Alpaca is a piece of digital artwork by Barbara Snyder which was uploaded on February 17th, 2013.
Alpaca
This warm and fuzzy cute little creature is living on an alpaca ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley, better know for raising prize race horses and home of... more
Title
Alpaca
Artist
Barbara Snyder
Medium
Digital Art - Digital Reproduction
Description
This warm and fuzzy cute little creature is living on an alpaca ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley, better know for raising prize race horses and home of the original Horse Whisper. Santa Ynez Valley is located in Santa Barbara California and is home of many Hollywood stars that also dabble in horse racing and raising exotic animals.
An alpaca (Vicugna pacos) is a domesticated species of South American camelid. It resembles a small llama in appearance.
Alpacas are kept in herds that graze on the level heights of the Andes of southern Peru, northern Bolivia, Ecuador, and northern Chile at an altitude of 3,500 m (11,500 ft) to 5,000 m (16,000 ft) above sea level, throughout the year. Alpacas are considerably smaller than llamas, and unlike llamas, they were not bred to be beasts of burden, but were bred specifically for their fiber. Alpaca fiber is used for making knitted and woven items, similar to wool. These items include blankets, sweaters, hats, gloves, scarves, a wide variety of textiles and ponchos in South America, and sweaters, socks, coats and bedding in other parts of the world. The fiber comes in more than 52 natural colors as classified in Peru, 12 as classified in Australia and 16 as classified in the United States.
In the textile industry, "alpaca" primarily refers to the hair of Peruvian alpacas, but more broadly it refers to a style of fabric originally made from alpaca hair, but now often made from similar fibers, such as mohair, Icelandic sheep wool, or even high-quality English wool. In trade, distinctions are made between alpacas and the several styles of mohair and luster.
An adult alpaca generally is between 81 and 99 cm in height at the withers. They usually weigh between 48 and 84 kg (106 and 185 lbs).
Uploaded
February 17th, 2013