Rachel Hebditch

How many alpacas are there in the UK? Ask any breeder and they will hazard a guess – probably around 15,000. In fact latest figures from the British Alpaca Society register put the number of animals at 10,941 of which 7,236 are females, 3,425 males and just 280 castrates. The number of castrated males is almost certainly higher than that and probably reflects the fact that many are not registered.

The greatest number of female alpacas, almost 2,000, owned by 226 breeders, are concentrated in the South West of England area that covers Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. The next most dense alpaca population is in the South East with 1415 females and 114 breeders.

As you move away from the South East and South West towards the margins the number of animals drops dramatically – just 41 breeders in Wales owning 481 animals and Scotland with only 23 breeders owning 235 animals.