Imported Peruvian Alpacas: 1993-1998
by Mike Safley
The first Peruvian alpacas arrived in the United States in 1993. There were five subsequent imports in succeeding years and an additional 1998 Canadian import, which was sold in 1999. The registry was closed by an overwhelming vote of its membership in 1998. The registry identifies the Peruvian imports by designating their “country of origin” on the registration certificate.
The imported alpacas came from a wide number of farms in Peru . In 1994 the farm-of-origin records were added to the information given to the purchasers. Beginning in 1995 the importers provided purchasers with fleece reports (histograms).
I participated in the marketing of the first three imports, and I retained inventories for each group. Over the years, I have been asked—often weekly—about the origin of particular animals, and I have referred to my lists and provided answers as best I could.
Not long ago it occurred to me that I should assemble the complete inventory and make all of the information available to the AOBA membership via the internet. I have done that and it is now available at www.alpacas.com in the breeder resource section. I want to thank Greg Mecklem and Ben Fisco for their contribution of records to the data base. There may be an occasional mistake in the data base, but to the best of my knowledge, it is complete. If you discover an error, please email me the documentation, and I will update the records.
It is now possible for anyone to type in an eartag number, ARI number, or registered name and access the details of any alpaca imported from Peru . Many people have asked me if a particular alpaca was “pure Accoyo” or if another was from Cconchatanca or Sollocota. The data base that I have installed at www.alpacas.com will allow you to answer these questions and more.
The animal records from the later imports include the fleece reports, age, and field comments from the people selecting the animals on site. I have included a summary of information available by year below. I hope that you will find this data helpful.
1993
Price Ÿ Quality Rating* Ÿ Ear Tag # Ÿ Type Ÿ Sex Ÿ Name Ÿ ARI # Ÿ DOB Ÿ Color Ÿ Farm**
* The alpacas in the first import were rated into categories according to quality (1 to 3) with 1 being the best and highest price.
** All of the alpacas in the first import were obtained from Allianza, but there was no designation from which of Allianza’s six ranches they originated.
³ ³ ³ ³
1994
Ear Tag # Ÿ Name Ÿ Sex Ÿ ARI # Ÿ Color Ÿ DOB Ÿ Farm of origin* Ÿ Progesterone**
* In 1994 the individual farm of origin was added to the data.
** Progesterone was tested to establish pregnancy.
1995 PPPeruvian “Five Star Alpacas”
Rating Ÿ Tag # Ÿ Name Ÿ ARI # Ÿ Breed Ÿ Sex Ÿ Farm of origin Ÿ Color Ÿ Age Ÿ Testical Size Ÿ Crimp/Lock ŸUniformity Ÿ Density Ÿ Micron Count Ÿ Legs Ÿ Body Ÿ Head Ÿ
In 1995 I was involved with the individual selections in Peru and we added a large number of qualitative traits to the inventory including histogram information and subjective comments on individual characteristics. These traits were noted by plus and minus signs. The more pluses the better. Other traits were noted in jargon such as “snipey” (thin face), heavy bone, pink eye (pigmentation), etc. The rating system used in 1995 was based on ten points: ten being the best. The names used were the official ARI names. All of the 1995 imports were PPPeruvian indicating that they were from the third Peruvian, or PPP , import.
1996 4Peruvian “Peruvian Collection”
Tag # Ÿ Name Ÿ ARI # Ÿ Breed Ÿ Sex Ÿ Farm of origin Ÿ Color Ÿ Pregnancy status Ÿ Micron Ÿ SD Ÿ C of V Ÿ % fiber over 30 microns Ÿ Age Ÿ Comments
1997 5Peruvian
Tag Ÿ Name Ÿ ARI# Ÿ Breed Ÿ Sex Ÿ Farm Ÿ Color Ÿ Age Ÿ Micron Ÿ SD Ÿ
C of V Ÿ % over 30 microns Ÿ Comments
1998 6Peruvian “Peruvian Pride”
Tag# Ÿ Name Ÿ ARI # Ÿ Breed Ÿ Sex Ÿ Color Ÿ Farm of origin Ÿ Pregnancy Status Ÿ
Micron Ÿ SD Ÿ C of V Ÿ % of fiber over 30 microns
1999 “Canadian” Peruvian Import
These alpacas were screened by ARI and imported into Canada in 1998. They were offered for sale in the United States in 1999.
Many of you will recognize the names of the farms indicated as the farm of origin, others will not. In the future I intend to author an article that locates and explains a little bit about each farm. I hope you find this data base useful.