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(above) Keith talks to the students in the lecture theatre. |
| Alpaca in China, an Emerging Industry.
This analysis compares China with the two main non indigenous alpaca locations, the USA and Australia. The alpaca industry globally has progressed in various ways. In the USA it took the elitist position, a position designed to maximise the return for the breeder (largely) by rclosing the associations registration system to outside imports. This position maintained animal pricing without regard for the viability of any return from fleece on a per animal basis. In Australia (eventually) very much the opposite position was taken, in pursuit of a fleece industry with millions of dollars spent on, what in reality; would turn out to be an unsustainable goal. To this point (as at May 2009) the only major industry fleece buyer, AAFL, has ceased buying from local breeders. The western alpaca interests were based around individual farms investing with only limited research in anything other than maximising return; probably a reasonable consideration for those involved. It would be fair to say that in both countries the boom in alpacas coincided with the baby boomer "seachange" movement, which saw a dissatisfaction with city living manifest itself by a movement toward a semi-rural lifestyle. Indeed it would not be an understatement to say that the cute
looks and gentle demeanour of the alpaca made it the ideal animal
for its time in the western world. |