"The first step in any animal breeding program is to decide what is ideal. Until a breeder knows what kind of animal he wants, he is stopped in his tracks and can neither select the best nor discard the worst."

Jay Lush
Animal Breeding Plans, Iowa State University Press,
Third Edition, 1945

Animal breeding is perpetually in flux; it is a living stream of genes selecting their path, shifting, changing and receiving new strength from a thousand tributaries, leaving less productive breed types in the backwater of time. Alpacas are an ancient breed and for the past 500 years, largely unimproved.

I have always tried to breed the best alpacas possible. I began from ignorance; informed by my mistakes. As I learned more about solving the riddle of the ideal alpaca I realized that I needed a map for my journey: like the picture on the box of the 1000 piece jig saw puzzle that my mother and I used to pursue on our coffee table.

But more than anything I have learned that alpacas will always change in the direction of my vision. Without a clear picture of excellence: improvement is elusive.

I remember attending a cultural exhibition in Arequipa, Peru during the 1998 International Camelid Festival with my friend Alonzo Burgos. He had organized the exhibit of ancient textiles and various cultural artifacts. One of the stars of the evening was an alpaca mummy which had been excavated from the 600 year old grave of an Incan Sun King. It was perfectly preserved. The fleece on the mummy measured 15 microns. I remember dreaming of the mummy coming back to life as my herd-sire. While my wishful thinking has gone unrewarded, the genetic template for a 15 micron herdsire is still somewhere, flowing in the blood of our alpacas. It was put in motion by the alpaca's ancestor, the vicuña. All that you and I need is the vision to select the correct combination of genes. And then a new version of that mummy will go live in our herds.

In Alpacas: Synthesis of a Miracle, I set forth the methods of selection and the classic livestock breeding systems necessary to organize and promote genetic gain. I have written the Ideal Alpaca to evoke, by both picture and word, the presence of a highly evolved, productive alpaca. It is my hope that by understanding the standards of excellence and breed type that make up the ideal alpaca, breeders everywhere will be able to visualize the most productive alpaca possible; and then link the genes to the picture.

There are several types of alpaca. Don Julio Barreda, the world's finest alpaca breeder, chooses to define these as primitive, unimproved, and ideal. In Chapter I, you will find Don Julio's hand drawn sketches of these three types of alpaca.

Many breeders make the mistake of identifying these types as Chilean, Bolivian, and Peruvian. This is because many primitive and unimproved alpacas found in the U.S. were imported in the mid 1980's from Chile. These "Chilean" alpacas were registered with the Alpaca Registry Incorporated (ARI) during the initial "open" period when alpaca phenotype was not a condition for registration. Later, a more improved alpaca type was imported from Bolivia. (Most of the foundation stock for these Bolivian alpacas came from the Peruvian co-ops.) Finally, alpacas from Peruvian co-ops were imported beginning in 1993, and some of these animals were closer in phenotype to the ideal alpaca.

In 1994 the ARI instituted well defined standards for screening imported alpacas and the animals that were admitted to the Registry were of a uniformly higher quality. All through this importation phase of our industry domestic breeders were constantly improving their stock. Yet in 2003, five years after the last import, no one calls these highly improved animals, United States alpacas.

Actually, country of origin has nothing to do with alpaca type. The primitive or unimproved alpacas which were originally imported came from small Indian herds, both Quechua and Aymara: 85 to 95 percent of all the world's alpacas reside in these Indian herds.

These Indian alpacas are very similar, whether they are from Chile, Peru, or Bolivia, so it is more correct to identify primitive or unimproved alpacas with Indian herds rather than with a country. Alpacas closer to the ideal are found in the Peruvian alpaca co-ops, such as Rural Allianza and Sollocota. These co-op alpacas are more highly selected and have been the source of a majority of the imports from Peru. This is particularly true for the white animals. Since the co-ops are found only in Peru, this type of alpaca is often called Peruvian. There are probably no more than 100,000 highly selected alpacas currently being raised by the Peruvian cooperatives. There are also a number of small and medium-sized herds managed by men like Julio Barreda who have ideal alpacas. A few of these alpacas were imported.

In this book, we will examine alpaca type in the context of Don Julio's definitions, and one that I have added: the improved type, which occurs between the unimproved and the ideal as defined by Barreda. These four types of alpaca exist in herds around the world. Breeders should appreciate the differences between each type of alpaca. The range from primitive to ideal exists on a continuum. You need to know where the alpaca you are evaluating stands on this continuum and what you can expect from your effort to improve the cria over the parent.

By examining photos, found in this book, which represent alpacas imported into the United States beginning in 1984 and those born here since, you will clearly see the four types of alpaca and understand that the breed is evolving in a dynamic fashion toward an ideal, which will always be a target that moves forward in the mind of the astute breeder. By identifying and measuring the traits that complete an ideal alpaca, breeders will become more selective. A clear breed standard will emerge with a common language of excellence.

For this process to fulfill its potential, alpaca breeders must be informed by the end user of their product. The fact that alpacas produce a luxury product with a worldwide demand insures their well being over time. Beginning with the consumer in mind, we can use pedigrees, production statistics, progeny tests and a collective recording system to fuel our breeding programs. This book examines the use of measurement to compile sire summaries which can be used to calculate estimated progeny differences (EPDs). Once superior sires are identified we can make large scale, across herd improvements in the alpaca breeds.

As alpaca owners, it is endlessly challenging to effect change in the breed which we are all so passionate about. I believe it is the pursuit of excellence that will propel our industry and ultimately protect the welfare of our alpacas: making them ever more valuable to the world. Like minded breeders can endeavor to breed excellence, and each year our collective efforts will produce a more prosperous future for all alpaca. In the end we may select for the same genes that animated the mummy's micro-soft fleece. Good luck.