Alpaca Guards
1–10–17, Adil
So as you all know, alpacas hold a special place in my heart. Today I did a little more recon to learn about what I assumed was a badass animal. I was not disappointed.
As you also know, alpacas are adorable.
“Awwww.” Yes, I’m glad you agree. But you know who doesn’t agree?
Coyotes. More broadly, most members of the canid family (which also includes foxes, dogs, etc.). Apparently, over time, alpacas and llamas (who are related) have learned to truly hate canids because they became big-time predators of the alapca family — the camelids. Over time, this wariness of canids has become ingrained into the DNA of camelids. Today, alpacas are super territorial.
So, you get a beautiful result: alpacas can be used not only for their wonderful fluffy coats, but also as ferocious, loyal guard animals. They ball out on duty. Most commonly they are used to protect flocks of sheep, especially from coyotes, as they are by far the biggest American sheep predator:
You might be thinking, who tf cares about sheep murderers? Well, here’s some numbers for ya. Economically, sheep predation is very expensive: recent annual losses in Texas due to sheep predation totaled $12 million, followed by California with $9 million, Wyoming with $7 million, Iowa and Utah with $6 million each, and Colorado with another $5 million. Obviously, more expensive sheep for farmers = more expensive clothing and food for consumers.
Dogs are the world’s most common guard animal, but alpacas seem superior for this job in almost every way. In fact, I spent a good amount of time reading the official report, Guard Llamas: A Part of Integrated Sheep Protection. (“Guard llamas” is a general phrase that refers to alpacas, llamas, guanacos, and their hybrids.) One of the coolest parts about alpaca guards is the time required for them to bond with the sheep. These alpacas go from zero sheep experience to being their sworn protectors in hours. About half of guard alpacas learn to love their flock in the first few hours, and by the end of the week about 80% are fully adjusted. They are particularly drawn to cute lil lambs. For reasons that are still not well understood, in such a short amount of time, guard llamas literally come to see their flock as their family group. On average, one guard llama was responsible for 250–300 sheep on 250–300 acres of land (though llamas have guarded up to 1000 sheep!). Compare this to a dog, which can take years to develop an attachment to a flock.
Here’s a nice summary comparison of dogs and guard llamas:
As you can see, alpacas are cheaper (average annual savings of $1,034 per farmer), easier (same food as sheep), more effective, more efficient, and longer-lasting than dogs. For dogs to develop sheep love, they have to be raised exclusively with sheep from their pup years, with minimal human contact. They aren’t very effective in their first year of life, and sometimes they show aggression towards sheep. Sadly, they die pretty fast in this lifestyle (50% die before age 3). You also have to feed them daily. Their curse is also their gift: one of their other “problems” is also over-attachment to humans.
In the study mentioned above, they introduced guard llamas to a bunch of farmers. Before getting these dopely beasts, they would lose on average 11% of their herd to predators each year; after guard llamas, this fell to an average about 1% (with more than half of farmers reporting 0 loss; this was done while the farmers kept all of their other normal predator control methods — traps, fences, shooting, dogs, etc.). Guard pacas are so effective that “the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station, which developed and promoted methods for the use of guard dogs, recently purchased llamas to guard their experimental flocks.”
Okay, I know what you’re thinking, you need to get an alpaca ASAP. But be aware of their few disadvantages: 25% of farmers said that the guard llamas had some form of negative impact on their sheep. Most common issue? Same as any of us… they’re tryna bang. Females had no problems, but 25% of intact male llamas and 5% of castrated llamas (😭) attempted to breed with the female sheep. Apparently, in one case, 100 ewes were killed before they figured out the problem (yikes). These things have more raging hormones than a reckless Dorsey or average Davis. Castration obviously helps, but apparently does not eliminate, the problem. Problem #2: sometimes the alpacas can be too protective, making it difficult for the farmers to work with the sheep (lol; solution = separate llama in a catch pen). One more minor problem: sometimes the selfish sheep box out the alpaca and the bro can’t get to his food. Easy fix = put the alpaca feeder somewhere high where the sheep can’t reach. So, yes, pacas are still the move. In this study, 85% of farmers said they would recommend acquiring guard llamas.
Interestingly, alpacas are more effective when working alone — multiple alpacas are still somewhat more effective compared to typical methods (~7% flock loss), but they are meant to fly solo.
Of course, the wicked powers of the paca need not be restrained to sheep —other farmers use them to protect ducks, geese, goats, (exotic) deer, and even cattle. This British farm even uses a herd of 10 alpacas to protect 24,000 free-range turkeys from foxes (with these turkeys later being eaten by Britons around Christmas time).
As a reminder, I love dogs. Though pacas are dope, they can be standoffish to humans. Here, you can experience a llama attack first hand (notice the evil, terrifying sound they make):
Of course, they are also famous for their uncanny ability to spit in the face of their opponents, sometimes including acidic stomach contents (just watch last 5 seconds of this video, as linked):
https://youtu.be/A_6XHB8D9vQ?t=99
Hope you all enjoyed learning about the utility of pacas!
Sources:
Franklin, W. L; Powell, K, J (July 1994). Guard Llamas: A part of integrated sheep protection. Iowa State University.
