Llamas and alpacas are increasingly popular as farming animals and companion animals in the UK, but their welfare needs are frequently misunderstood by inexperienced keepers.
The rapid growth of alpaca keeping in the UK has outrun the development of welfare expertise and knowledge transfer to new keepers. Alpacas are not difficult to keep well, but they have specific needs — social companionship with their own species, fiber-based diet with careful mineral balance, and low-stress handling techniques that differ from conventional livestock — that uninformed keepers often fail to meet. Single-animal alpaca keeping is a common welfare problem — alpacas are highly social and suffer in isolation. As the species becomes more fashionable, increasing numbers of animals are being kept by people with inadequate knowledge, making welfare education a priority.