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ALPACAS
MAGAZINE
ew would argue that owning alpacas enriches
our lives. Much has been written about their
calming effect on humans and certainly
“alpaca watching” is one of the many joys of owner-
ship. But do we enrich their lives? Given the many
gifts alpacas offer humans, shouldn’t we consider
it our duty to do everything we can to provide
fulfilling lives for our alpacas?
For South American alpacas, the procurement of
adequate forage is Job 1 and requires most of an
alpaca’s attention. The search ends up providing exer-
cise and interesting and varied food stuff,
leaving the animals happy to rest when they can. In
this country we provide, if anything, too much of a
good thing when it comes to food. Our animals are
often overweight, requiring that we restrict their
access to pasture by keeping them penned where
they cannot roam. Some breeders lack space and
their alpacas live in confined areas, sometimes even
in crowded conditions. Some alpacas do not have
access to pasture at all, and some only for part of
each year. In these settings, alpacas receive their
allotment of food in one or two concentrated servings
per day, leaving the rest of the day empty.
Fromhaltering and leading, to toenail trimming and shearing, CAMELIDynamics guides alpaca owners
tomore efficient ways of handling their livestock, resulting in aminimumamount of stress for human
and animal alike.
BY MARTY MCGEE BENNETT
d
ynamics
cameli
Alpaca Enrichment
Using a target on the
end of a wand, Gypsy
learns to jump over
obstacles in one of
the winter clicker
training “games.”
F
Photo©2011NinaFaust
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