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Alpacas and Llamas—What’s the difference?

There are a couple of ways to them apart.  Llamas have banana shaped ears and long tails and alpacas have straight ears and stubby tails.  Aside from these differences, llamas are, on average 1-2 feet taller and proportionally bigger than alpacas.

The llama is roughly twice the size of the alpaca and the llama has a very coarse outer coat over a softer inner coat - as opposed to the alpaca, which has a very fine, single coat.  Though spinners utilize the fibers from both animals, the llama produces far less fiber per animal than the alpaca, despite its much larger size.  This is because the alpaca was domesticated and carefully bred for thousands of  years as a luxury fiber-producing animal. The llama has been bred for the same amount of time as a pack-carrying animal.

Alpacas:

There are two different breed-types:  the huacaya (wah-KI'-ya) and suri (surrey).  Although both types of alpacas are physiologically nearly identical, one main physical difference is clearly identifiable:  the fleece.  Huacaya fleece has a degree of "waviness," or "crimp," thus giving huacayas a fluffy, "Teddy Bear-like" appearance.  Suris, on the other hand, have no crimp in their fleeces, so their fiber clings to itself, forming beautiful "pencil locks" that hang down from the body in gentle, silky cascades.

Indigenous to South America, the alpaca is raised for its soft fleece.  This fleece is sheared once a year, yielding roughly five to ten pounds.  After only minimal preparation, it is ready to be spun into yarn (for knitting, crocheting, and weaving) or used to make felt (for creating hats, cloth or moccasins).

Alpacas stand approximately 36 inches tall at the withers (the area where the neck and spine come together) and weigh between 100 and 200 pounds.

Alpacas are gregarious and very intelligent animals that respond to a variety of training and handling techniques.  They learn to halter and lead in just a few training sessions, and even children find most alpacas to be safe and easy to handle.

Land Requirements.  In arid climates animals are usually fed on "dry lot," with little or no pasture feeding.  In this situation you could raise from 2 - 6 alpacas per acre. In milder, wetter climates with abundant fresh pasture available, however, 10 or more alpacas per acre might be the norm.

Spitting.  They do spit at each other as a sign of dominance.  It’s wise to steer clear of the crossfire.

Sources:  Meet the Alpaca Brochure distributed by AOBA and the Alpaca Registry.   

Llamas

The height of a full-grown, full-size llama is between 5.5 ft and 6 ft tall at the top of the head. They can weigh between 280 and 450 lbs.  Llamas are very social animals and like to live with other llamas as a herd.  Overall, the fiber produced by a llama is very soft and is naturally lanolin free.

Llamas are intelligent and can learn simple tasks after a few repetitions.  Capable of carrying on third of their body weight, (around 80 to 100 pounds), llamas are a quiet and willing companion when hiking. With their two toed foot, llamas are agile and sure-footed. And, as a bonus feature, the soft pad on the bottom of their foot results in a low impact on the environment.

Llamas are increasingly used as guard animals for herds of sheep, goats, or geese. A gelded male of two years of age, will bond closely with its charges and be very effective in preventing predation. Using llamas as guards has eliminated the losses to predators for many producers.  The value of saved livestock each year exceeds the purchase and maintenance costs of the llama.

Sources:  Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia, www.shagbarkridge.com About Llamas