Alpacas are the latest animals in the livestock version of a speculative bubble, says Modern Farmer. It says the industry, which boomed in the early 2000s, emphasized breeding over developing a market for the alpaca’s chief product, their fine, soft fleece. “Selling alpacas for meat, though common practice in South America, where the animals originated, is attracting interest, though it remains a last-resort option for many alpaca owners,” says the magazine in a story that describes the distress of owners who cannot find buyers for their animals and run out of money to feed them.
Prices for alpaca have fallen by as much as 500 percent since 2005 or 2006, says a study by UC-Davis. “Now that prices for alpacas themselves have plummeted…it may be easier to turn a profit off their fleece,” says Modern Farmer.