Introduction

There are two types of Alpaca...

The Huacaya, which has a dense spongy crimped fleece and is the more common fibre producing machine

and the Suri which has a long fine highly lustrous fibre which hangs in pencil like locks which almost touch the ground.

At the time of the Spanish conquest of South America, the Suri, which is a more delicate animal than the Huacaya, was kept at lower altitudes than the Huacaya. When the Spaniards moved the native alpaca off the lowland pastures and up to the desolate conditions of the Andean anti-plano the Suri was less equipped to survive and the Huacaya became, over the centuries, the dominant species until today the Suris are in the minority. There are only about 60,000 Suri alpacas in South America today and their numbers are in decline.

Huacaya fibre is a dense lustrous spongy fibre which is arranged in tight locks containing a fair amount of crimp (crinkle) giving it great elasticity. It feels like a cashmere or mohair and is extremely light, waterproof and hard wearing. Factors which have made it a highly sought after raw material for centuries. In the late 19 century when Titus Salt of Saltaire mills in Bradford England was making his fortune processing alpaca fibre, alpaca coats would outlive the generations and were often bequeathed to the descendants.

Suri is a very exclusive fibre with an exceptional silky handle and wondrous lustre the finest of which is exclusively used for making top quality ladies coats. Although I did once meet a breeder in Australia whose life's ambition was to manufacture ladies underwear from this silky fibre. An aim that is well within the bounds of possibility once you've seen these animals shimmy round the paddock.