Macusani, located in the mountains of the Andes, 15,000 feet above sea level, is known for producing ‘The Fibre of the Gods’ or ‘The Alpaca Fleece Grown Closest to Heaven’. This area, called the Puno region is where Pat Viceconte and his team, Dr. Walter Bravo (Peru), Dr. Rufino Quilla (Peru), William Coburn (USA) and Hernan Gomez (Peru) selected their prized alpaca destined for Australia in 1995.
Dr. P Walter Bravo is an acknowledged world expert on camelid reproduction. University educated in the USA and Peru, he is the author of 19 technical publications, acts as a consultant to the Department of Veterinary medicine at the University of California and has worked in alpaca research at a number of government organizations in Peru. Walter was the judge at the first alpaca show in Australia, held in Melbourne in 1991 and currently works in the U.S.A.
Dr. Rufino Quilla is a veterinarian who has worked for Don Julio Barreda, Alianza and other co-operatives and has been involved in all previous U.S selection teams.
William Coburn also has been involved in previous U.S selection teams and has managed the famed Camelids of Delaware Safari Park in the U.S. Bill has extensive experience with Alpacas and is known as an ‘international troubleshooter’.
Fineness of fleece varies with climatic conditions, feed, health, sex and age, so it can be misleading to present animals purely in terms of micron. The genetics of producing balanced, dense, fine-fleeced animals doesn’t change. Careful consideration was given to the selection of the very best animals available from Peru.
- Presence of fibre on the forehead and cheeks
- Size and type of head
- Fibre coverage onto the legs
- Conformation
- Diameter of fibre
- Presence of crimp (especially thigh crimp)
- Uniformity
- Density (consistency of this characteristic on three parts of the animal)
Jolimont Alpaca undertakes to make available a broad cross-selection of all stock providing wide choice in terms of age, pregnancy status, mating history and overall quality.
- AAA certificate of registration (male and female)
- Veterinary certificate of health (male and female)
- Record of mating (female)
- Certificate of pregnancy confirmed by ultrasound (female)
A cross-section of the shipment will also have a micron test and histogram.
