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SRS® Alpacas |
Rare and valuable
wool |
Rare and valuable wool
The alpaca, like other fleece-coated animals, originates
from a two-coated ancestor. The outer coat, or ‘guard
hair’, is still visible on most alpacas. It can
regarded as a contaminant which impedes processing and
dyeing of alpaca fibre, and lessens the quality and
appeal of fabrics.
SRS® is a breeding system that will eliminate ‘guard
hair’ from alpacas and will perfect the dimensions
and properties of alpaca fibre so that it can become
a prestigious and fine fibre, similar revered as cashmere
is, and well positioned in luxury retail markets.
We are in the process of genetically reconstructing
the alpaca fibre. More than 100 alpaca breeders in Australia,
New Zealand, United Kingdom, USA and Canada are involved.
The fibre reconstruction is achieved by increasing the
density and length of wool fibres, whilst minimising
the size of the primary fibres. |
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Image 1. The fleece of an advanced alpaca
of measurably high levels of fibre density and length
and fine fibre diameter.
As density and length increases, the fleece fibres
become highly aligned and uniform in size and shape,
and medullation disappears. The fibres become much finer
in diameter and smooth surfaced as scale height decreases
and scale length increases. |
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Bred in this way, the alpaca has the potential to
produce about 50 times the fleece weight of the cashmere
goat. |
Advanced alpacas |
Advanced alpacas
We have some excellent benchmarks for being able to
say when an alpaca has advanced fleece traits. Our worldwide
database of leading alpacas from many herds that have
been tested for density and length is available. The
309 alpacas, averaging 45 months of age, have the following
mean values:
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fibre density of 43.3 follicles (fibres) per square
millimetre
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fibre length, as measured by growth rate, of 0.34
millimetres per day
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primary fibres with a mean diameter of 34.7 microns
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secondary fibres with a mean diameter of 24.0 microns
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Alpacas sires |
Alpacas sires
Among the alpaca sires we are using in SRS® breeding
programs are the following examples (see www.srsalpacas.com): |
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Animal: |
Jolimont Giovanni |
Date of birth: |
7 January 2002 |
Colour: |
Solid white |
Fibre density: |
69.3 follicles per square millimetre |
Fibre length: |
0.39 millimetres per day |
Primary fibre diameter: |
30.2 microns |
Secondary fibre diameter: |
19.5 microns |
Fleece weight: |
2.7 kilograms at 16.5 microns (12 months of
age) |
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Animal: |
Protege |
Date of birth: |
11 January 1997 |
Colour: |
Solid white |
Fibre density: |
68.2 follicles per square millimetre |
Fibre length: |
0.30 millimetres per day |
Primary fibre diameter: |
33.5 microns |
Secondary fibre diameter: |
22.2 microns |
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Animal: |
Mars |
Date of birth: |
17 January 2004 |
Colour: |
Solid white |
Fibre density: |
60.9 follicles per square millimetre |
Primary fibre diameter: |
27.0 microns |
Secondary fibre diameter: |
17.2 microns |
Fleece weight: |
2.2 kilograms (12 months of age) |
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Animal: |
Accolade |
Date of birth: |
11 March 2004 |
Colour: |
Solid white |
Fibre density: |
60.8 follicles per square millimetre |
Primary fibre diameter: |
25.5 microns |
Secondary fibre diameter: |
19.1 microns |
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Animal: |
Yucatan |
Date of birth: |
28 April 2003 |
Colour: |
Solid white |
Fibre density: |
48.8 follicles per square millimetre |
Fibre length: |
0.39 millimetres per day |
Primary fibre diameter: |
30.0 microns |
Secondary fibre diameter: |
22.2 microns |
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Animal: |
Alloro |
Date of birth: |
1 January 2003 |
Colour: |
Solid white |
Fibre density: |
41.1 follicles per square millimetre |
Fibre length: |
0.38 millimetres per day |
Primary fibre diameter: |
27.2 microns |
Secondary fibre diameter: |
18.0 microns |
Fleece weight: |
3.6 kilograms (2 years of age) |
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