My 5 year old daughter is studying the rain forest? Have you traveled there?

Question

She is interested in Alpaca's. What do you know about them and their relationship to Peru? Are they pets? Are they like sheep and Lama's? If you own an Alpaca please tell me all about them. Have you been to Peru? My parents traveled to Peru and the Amazon, so I have some info but I am interested in your knowledge.

Thank you so much for all of your help!!!

Answer 1

Alpacas are not animals from the rain forest. They live in the Andes mountains, which weather can be very cold. That's the reason why alpacas have so much wool.

In Peru alpacas are mainly raised for their wool. They belong to the same family of the llamas but produce more and better wool.  Llamas are used more to carry stuff and sometimes for their meat (it's pretty tasty actually).  The two other members of that family are the guanaco and the vicuña (vicuña's wool can be worth up to $800 dollars a pound)

Alpacas are not usually kept as pets in Peru, unless you have a farm since they can be very messy (lots of p**p).

Alpacas are related to Peru because they are from there.

Answer 2

I was in Peru a few years ago.  I'm not recalling that the alpacas were really known as rain forest animals, but maybe.  The alpacas that I came across were more domestic animals than pets (more like a cow than a dog), and were raised primarily for their extremely soft wool.  All of the ones I saw were in the mountain areas in southern/eastern Peru.

Answer 3

Alpacas and lamas are very popular up here on Vancouver Island too.  They are a very very cool looking animal and they all have very definite personalities.  Very headstrong critters.

My rainforest experience was India in monsoon season so it is a bit different.  For me it is memories of wild elephants, big cats, monkeys and wild pigs.  Oh, and cows.

When I was a kid in Toronto there was a city zoo in High Park.  We used to go there and I remember there was a cage of lamas.  Sundays were pretty crowded with families and i imagine the poor creatures were fed up with humans on hot humid Sundays.  I remember twice a lama spitting in my father's eye,  in one year.    Haughty things!  He never liked them after that although we kids took vicious glee in the very funny lama.

By the way these animals are raised for their wools and their labour.  They are not forest animals.  They are mountain creatures.  Their magnificent wool would rot in the rainforests.  and They would perish of the heat in such a coat.  They are used traditionally as beasts of burden. Their wool is a major industry for the beautiful creations of the local tribes.

http://www.alpacaperu.com/

The Alpaca Peru   great site

http://www.aia.org.pe/aia.html?32

Alpaca Products

http://www.paqochafarm.co.nz/info.htm

PAQOCHA - FARM - ALPACAS

breeding for colour and excellence

This is a beautiful site.  Great photos.  Good data.

Good luck.  Next time, just punch the words into your search engine and your stuff will come up.

Answer 4

The rain froest  good thing to be  there because there are so many aminaml