Alpaca or vicuna?
How to tell them apart
The vicuña is the alpaca’s wild ancestor: smaller and fine-haired.
The vicuña is the wild animal the domestic alpaca is believed to come from.
Quick answers
They differ on 3 of the 8 quick answers: domesticated, kept as a pet, do people eat it.
| Question | Alpaca | Vicuna |
|---|---|---|
| What is it? | Mammal | Mammal |
| Carnivore? | No, herbivore | No, herbivore |
| Dangerous? | No | No |
| Domesticated? differs | Yes | No |
| Awake when? | Daytime | Daytime |
| Hibernates? | No | No |
| Kept as a pet? differs | Sometimes | No |
| Do people eat it? differs | Yes | No |
At a glance
| Question | Alpaca | Vicuna |
|---|---|---|
| Found in | South America | South America |
| Habitat differs | Mountains, Grassland, Farmland | Mountains, Grassland |
| Size | Medium | Medium |
| Length differs | – | 1.45–1.6 m (head and body) |
| Height differs | – | 75–85 cm at the shoulder |
| Weight differs | – | 35–65 kg |
| Legs | 4 | 4 |
| Covered in | Wool | Wool |
| Lives | In herds | In herds |
| Lives for | 15–20 years | 15–20 years |
| Can fly | No | No |
| Swims differs | Yes | No |
| Lays eggs | No | No |
About each
Alpaca
A domesticated South American camelid bred for its highly valued fibre, descended from the wild vicuña at least 5,000–6,000 years ago. It is smaller than its relative the llama.
Vicuna
A wild camelid of the high Andes and probably the ancestor of the alpaca. It grows small amounts of extremely fine wool; the Inca let only royalty wear it. Hunting cut numbers to about 6,000 by 1974, but the population has recovered to about 350,000.
Sources
Last reviewed . The answers and notes come from each animal's own page, where every source is listed.
How each answer is decided: How we answer. More look-alikes: Side by side.