Origin in Australia

Alpacas were first imported into Australia in 1858, but the project failed and none of the alpaca are known to have survived. The first of the current alpaca arrived in Australia in 1988. The Australian alpaca herd has since been built from breeding stock imported from Chile and, more recently from Peru. The alpaca has adapted well to Australian climatic conditions.

Today in Australia there are approximately 25,000 alpacas. These are owned by some 1,600 breeders and have a combined livestock value of over $100 million.

While the future direction of the Australian alpaca industry is the promotion and sale of alpaca fibre, the emphasis in this young industry will be on breeding for the foreseeable future.