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Animal Size

Alpaca size: How big do they get?

How big does a Alpaca get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:

A grown Alpaca (Lama pacos) reaches an average size of 1.72 meter (5′ 8″).

When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). A full-grown exemplary reaches roughly 64.9 kg (143.08 lbs). On birth they have a weight of 7.92 kg (17.46 lbs). Talking about reproduction, Alpacas have 1 babies about 1 times per year. The Alpaca (genus: Lama) is a member of the family Camelidae.

As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.

The average adult size of a Alpaca is  (5' 8

The alpaca (Vicugna pacos) is a species of South American camelid descended from the vicuña. It is similar to, and often confused with, the llama. However, alpacas are often noticeably smaller than llamas. The two animals are closely related and can successfully cross-breed. Alpacas and llamas are related to the guanaco. There are two breeds of alpaca: the Suri alpaca and the Huacaya alpaca.Alpacas are kept in herds that graze on the level heights of the Andes of Southern Peru, Western Bolivia, Ecuador, and Northern Chile at an altitude of 3,500 to 5,000 metres (11,000 to 16,000 feet) above sea level. Alpacas are considerably smaller than llamas, and unlike llamas, they were not bred to be working animals but were bred specifically for their fiber. Alpaca fiber is used for making knitted and woven items, similar to sheep’s 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.Alpacas communicate through body language. The most common is spitting when they are in distress, fearful, or mean to show dominance. Male alpacas are more aggressive than females, and tend to establish dominance of their herd group. In some cases, alpha males will immobilize the head and neck of a weaker or challenging male in order to show their strength and dominance.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industry, “alpaca” primarily refers to the hair of Peruvian alpacas, but more broadly it refers to a style of fabric originally made from alpaca hair, such as mohair, Icelandic sheep wool, or even high-quality wool from other breeds of sheep. In trade, distinctions are made between alpacas and the several styles of mohair and luster.An adult alpaca generally is between 81 and 99 centimetres (32 and 39 inches) in height at the shoulders (withers). They usually weigh between 48 and 84 kilograms (106 and 185 pounds).

Animals of the same family as a Alpaca

We found other animals of the Camelidae family:

  • Vicuña with a size of 1.58 meter (5′ 3″)
  • Llama with a size of 1.66 meter (5′ 6″)
  • Dromedary with 1 babies per litter
  • Bactrian camel with 1 babies per litter
  • Guanaco with a size of 1.47 meter (4′ 11″)

Animals with the same size as a Alpaca

Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Alpaca:

Animals with the same litter size as a Alpaca

Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a Alpaca:

Animals with the same weight as a Alpaca

As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Lama pacos: