What is Baby Alpaca Wool?
To start with, alpacas are large yet delicate animals, weighing 100-170 pounds, with long necks, big eyes, a short tail and pointy ears. They are a member of the camelid family (which also includes llamas). Alpacas were first brought to United States in 1984 but nearly 99% of the world’s 3 million alpacas still live in Peru, Chile and Bolivia. Alpaca wool is part of an elite group of luxury fibers known as “specialty fibers” – fibers that are rare, extremely fine and unbelievably soft. 100% alpaca garments are comparable in softness to cashmere. Alpacas are sheared much like sheep. They are typically raised on alpaca farms are not killed or harmed in any way as part of the shearing process. Baby alpaca wool is especially soft and refers to wool that is collected from the first shearing of an alpaca. Thus, it is also more rare (and costly) than regular alpaca.
