Background Alpacas (Vicugna pacos), earlier named Lama pacos, belong to the family Camelidae of which there are 7 living species. Four are native to South America and of those four two are domestic species, the alpaca (Vicugna pacos) and the llama (Lama glama) and two are wild, the vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) and the guanaco (Lama guanicoe). These species are often referred to as the New World cam...