.LynEve

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Alpacas belonging to a friend. When the Spanish invaded South America some 5 centuries ago, they found very woolly animals with a long neck, called “pacos”. From “el paca” in spanish, the word evolved to Alpaca, which is now the common name, and lama pacos in zoology. Alpacas belong to the Cameloid family, yes, they are related to camels! Alpacas are smaller than Llamas, being about 1 metre high, excluding the neck.They express themselves with a soft "humm" and live 15-20 years. They have been kept in New Zealand since 1989 for their fibre production. It fetches approx NZ$35 a kilo (US$15, £10.30) depending on quality. A female will bear 12 offspring during her breeding life. The babies are called Cria. . . Panasonic DMC-FZ7. Thanks for viewing :) . . . . just thought I would mention - don't get too close to the brown one - it spat at me just after this was taken, fortunately it missed :)