Alpacas and llamas are increasingly farmed for fiber globally; their social needs, spit behavior, and specific handling requirements need welfare-aware management.
Alpacas and llamas occupy a welfare niche between livestock and companion animals, with social needs and stress responses that require specific management knowledge. Their stoic pain masking ability means welfare problems including dental disease, foot rot, and musculoskeletal pain may go undetected for extended periods without proactive health monitoring. Shearing, which is necessary for health as well as fiber production, can be significantly more or less stressful depending on handling quality and restraint method. The growing global fiber farming industry would benefit from widely accessible welfare training for small producers who may lack the experience of traditional Andean alpaca keeping.