Fibre production from South American camelids

Fibre from llamas, alpacas and guanacos is being considered in the U.K. as a possible product for substitution for the traditional commodities that are currently in surplus. It appears, however, that only the undercoat of the guanaco has any economic potential. The objective of research at the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute (MLURI) is to obtain basic knowledge of the characteristics and production of llama and guanaco fibre and, in particular, to study the effects of season and nutrition on fibre growth. The use of tritiated methionine in the measurement of fibre growth by autoradiography is also being examined.