Alpacas first made their appearance in United Kingdom in the 19th century.

Alpacas were imported to the United Kingdom from Peru by Edward Smith Stanley the 13th Earl of Derby (1775-1851) a naturalist who had a large collection of animals at his menagerie at Knowsley outside Liverpool. Even Queen Victoria had a small herd of alpacas at Windsor Great Park.

The alpacas of the 21st century look quite different to the alpacas of the 19th century. 19th century alpacas resembled the llama and had a lot of guard hair (coarse hair). They were often mistaken for llamas. The commercial breeders of British Alpacas today aspire to breed alpacas that are closer to the alpacas of the ancient Incas that were destroyed by the Spanish.

Inca herd management is ranked among the top in the annals of world animal husbandry. These huge alpaca herds were thoroughly classified for uniformity in age, sex and colour on "quipu," a ledger made of knotted strings. British commercial alpaca breeders adopt the same practices but instead of a quipu use computers!

A few people tried to keep alpacas in Britain in the 19th century but failed as they did not have the knowledge to look after these animals. Alpacas were not accustomed to living in a wet and grey Britain. The alpacas that were imported from the high Andean mountains needed UV sunlight and special mineral supplements. The early owners of alpacas did not know the diseases that the alpacas were prone to get when living outside the environment they were accustomed to. Those who realized that it was not easy to breed alpacas successfully exported them to South Africa and Australia

British alpacas are raised to be fibre producing animals and shorn annually. Good quality animals produce saddle fleece between 2 kg and 3kg of fibre at each shearing. Although people commonly refer to it as “wool” what grows on alpacas is technically a hair because of its cellular composition. A cross section of alpaca fibre shows that it is a tubular hair with a medullated or hollow core and is structurally different from the solid or corticated fibre of sheep and most other wool-bearing animals. This unique structure probably accounts for the remarkable warmth and insulating quality of camelid fibre and contributes to its tensile strength and durability.

Today British Alpaca breeders strive to breed genetically strong alpacas that have fleece with a low micron count (1 micron = 1/1000 millimeter). A low micron count results in fine fibre and soft yarn.

EKOALPAKA yarns use alpaca fibre which has a micron range from 18 to 22.