It is considered difficult to process Llama fibre due to the grand difference between the tough outer coat and fine undercoat, and the necessity to separate the finer fibres from the coarse upper hairs. Guanaco fibre is considered as superior to Llama fibre as it is easier to process. The Guanaco also has two coats, with the light undercoat having a fine, downy fibre, typically a pale caramel colour.
Which brings us to the Alpaca: It has a very dense and fast-growing fleece, which needs to be shorn in the summer due to the heat.
The fibre produced is fine, strong, hard-wearing, soft, lightweight, luxurious, thermal, and hypo-allergenic. There are two subspecies of Alpaca, worth mentioning due to the difference in their hair: The Huacaya Alpaca is fluffy and sheep-like, producing a shorter fibre, whereas the Suri Alpaca has a longer coat and so produces a longer fibre.
Note: The Suri are the rarer subspecies, and so products using Suri are more expensive. This is taken from the first shearing, when the animal is less than one-year-old, from the underside of the neck and belly. Since Baby Alpaca fibre is so expensive, it is often blended with other fabric ie. Royal Baby Alpaca is a category of Baby Alpaca, with fibres measuring less than 20 microns.
Today it is still a rare creature, and as it produces such little fibre, this makes the wool even more exclusive. Alpaca is more accessible, being specifically bred for this purpose. It is more prized for its fiber than the Llama, which has two coats, a rough one and a fine one, making processing separating the fibers tricky. It is uncommon to come across products made of Guanaco fiber. Overall, the Alpaca fiber and products have many advantages, which are outlined below.
Alpaca fiber is softer, lighter, and stronger than cashmere or sheep wool. There are over 22 natural colours , ranging from shades of white, grey, brown, and black.
Alpaca wool. Alpaca fibre also has the advantage of being more ecologically sustainable when compared to cashmere: Not only does an Alpaca consume less water than a goat, it produces enough wool for four to five sweaters per year. In comparison, four goats are needed to produce enough wool for just one sweater per year! Many clothing and accessory items, blankets, and even cuddly toys. The most popular items are sweaters and ponchos.
They come in a variety of sizes, qualities and colours. They make great souvenirs to bring back home. Like llamas and guanaco, they differ in weight and size in appearance because the adult specimen is between 81 and 99 centimetres tall and weighs between 48 and 84 kilograms.
It has big and pointed ears. The body is thin and protrudes from the long narrow neck. This thin neck is, of course, noticeable if it is not covered with wool because it grows up to 50 centimetres and has different white, brown and black colours.
The coat can be uniform or multicoloured. Its canines are located in both jaws and measure about 3 centimetres in length. Females do not have canines as developed as males, but except for this trait, both sexes are physically similar. Alpaca is a social animal and lives in family groups. Some researchers claim that the groups are organized hierarchically: they are composed of an alpha male, females, other alpaca males and their young.
Alpacas are able to warn their peers of danger by creating a kind of croak. It usually defends itself by spitting or kicking intruders too. It is an exclusively herbivorous animal and its diet is composed of grass, hay, stems, bark, tree leaves and grass species e. Festuca nardifolia, Agrostis Tolucensis and Descampsia Caespitosa. When eating, the alpaca chews the food by 8 movements. Then it swallows it and goes through 3 stomachs to continue with the digestion process.
You need too much food to satisfy their body's requirements. Alpaca breeders usually supplement the diet of animals daily with a dose of cereals that provide important vitamins for growth. There are many routes to Machu Picchu, but none is like the Inca Trail Tours , the most famous pedestrian path in the Americas. After flying from the capital of Peru , Lima, you will arrive in Cusco to hike for 4 days along a path through forests and dense fog, millenary stone steps and discover the ruins of ancient fortifications and Inca cities, and all the time enjoying majestic views.
If you like to visit Machu Picchu, we recommend that you book your Machu Picchu ticket in advance, so you can enjoy your holidays in Peru without any problems. The best period is during the dry season, which covers the months of April to the end of September.
We can thank the llama for its contribution to making big empires possible in the Andes. The llama also permitted vertical integration. It was the llama that made it possible to take fish from the ocean and carry them up to emperors in the highlands, and to take products to the highlands and bring them down to the lowlands.
The llama also was an animal big enough for meat production and its manure that dropped on the fields would increase the production of crops such as potatoes and other Andean crops. And for all these reasons then state governments and empires, big political units, rose surprisingly early in the Andes, already before the time of Christ and the Andes ended up with the largest empire in the Americas, the largest native American state of the Americas.
Namely, the Inca Empire which ran all the way from Equador into northern Chile. You can thank the llama for contributing to making that possible. Comments are closed for this object. Most of the content on A History of the World is created by the contributors, who are the museums and members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of the BBC or the British Museum. The BBC is not responsible for the content of any external sites referenced.
Listen to this programme. View more objects from people in London. Model made by a German Prisoner-of-War. Search term:. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets CSS enabled.
While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets CSS if you are able to do so. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Find out more about page archiving. Home Explore Programmes Topics About. Give us feedback. Read Next View. Atiq Boutique Hotel. Uros Qhota Uta Lodge. Life Hotel Valle Sagrado. DoubleTree by Hilton Iquitos.
Hotel Tierra Inka Sacred Valley. Holiday Inn Lima Airport. Huaraz City Centre Hostel. Costa del Sol Trujillo Centro. El Boulevard - Hostel.
0コメント