Meet an alpaca!

Alpacas might be the softest animals on Earth! These funny-looking animals are famous for their soft wool.

Alpacas are a kind of animal called a camelid. Llamas and camels are camelids too. Alpacas are from the Andes mountains of South America. These mountains can be very cold, so people living in the Andes raise alpacas for their warm, soft wool.

Wool is a lot like your hair. It keeps growing all the time. When alpaca wool grows long enough, people can shear it off. This does not hurt the alpaca. The wool can then be used for items like blankets, sweaters and scarves.

Alpacas are interesting animals. They are smaller than llamas. A alpaca is normally about four feet tall. Alpacas are herbivores. This means they only eat plants. Alpacas like to eat grass and leaves. Alpacas might also eat carrots or apples as treats!

Fun facts

A baby alpaca is called a cria!

When some alpacas get excited they make a noise that sounds like "wark! wark!" When they want to be friendly, alpacas make a "cluck" noise.