alpacas are the andean animal raised for its fine wool.
alpacas are the andean animal raised for its fine wool.
name the andean animal raised for its fine wool?
alpacas
the vicuña ("vicugna vicugna") or vicuna (both , very rarely spelled "vicugna", which is actually the name of its genus) is one of the two wild south american camelids which live in the high alpine areas of the andes, the other being the guanaco. it is a relative of the llama, and is now believed to be the wild ancestor of domesticated alpacas, which are raised for their coats. vicuñas produce small amounts of extremely fine wool, which is very expensive because the animal can only be shorn every three years, and has to be caught from the wild. when knitted together, the product of the vicuña's wool is very soft and warm. the inca valued vicuñas highly for their wool, and it was against the law for anyone but royalty to wear vicuña garments; today the vicuña is the national animal of peru and appears in the peruvian coat of arms.
vicuña
the bowmont sheep is an extremely rare breed that was bred in the 1980s to create a new high quality fibre, by crossing a saxon merino with a shetland. this project was undertaken by the macaulay institute in order to create a breed of sheep intended as a uk rival to the fine wool of the merino sheep in new zealand and australia. in 2006 due to lack of funding the macaulay institute closed their research farm after 25 years just when the sheep were becoming consistent and the breed stabilising. at this time there wasn’t a large enough market for the fine wool so many of the sheep got either slaughtered or cross bred, creating a less luxurious fibre. finisterre have teamed up with lesley prior at devon fine fibres, the only keeper of purebred bowmont sheep, to rescue the breed from the brink of extinction, create a sustainable market for the wool and aid in the breed’s development and keeping them alive. with the help of clever promotional material and viral videos the project is getting a lot of attention from the likes of prince charles and savile row with a large interest in the sustainability of producing high quality, fine wool in the uk. the bowmont will be the finest wool sheep in europe; only being challenged by the merino in further afield parts of the world.
finisterre (retailer)