When the email came in from Suri & Company, we first thought it was a mistake.

Turns out, it was quite a blessing. Jackie King from Suri & Company was all business and was offering an opportunity to photograph a special animal.

Jackie and her husband founded Suri & Company with a deep passion for breeding the rarest of alpacas—the suri. The King’s raise alpacas on their breathtaking 200-acre farm west of St. Louis. Today, Suri & Company offers a variety of quality suri alpaca for sale. They have cultivated not just a herd, but a legacy of champion breeding stock, fiber production alpacas and lovable companion animals.

Spending a full day on their farm, we had the privilege of photographing around 25 alpacas. At first, they were cautious, watching us from a distance, but as the day went on, their curiosity won out. We blended in with the herd, observing their gentle movements and admiring their graceful stance. And we ended the day sharing an unforgettable nose-bump with a particularly curious female.

If you have alpacas and want to capture their elegance, charm, and individuality in breathtaking images, let’s create something extraordinary together.

See our gallery of wild horses from Shannon County, Missouri. And, read more about our photography of exotic and unique pets.

Alpacas are popular for several reasons

We found a great source of information on alpacas below.

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute is one of the leading experts on this interesting animal. Here is some of what it says about alpacas:

“The alpaca is a small relative of the camel domesticated by Andean people for its wool. They are slender-bodied animals with long legs and necks, small heads and large, pointed ears. The two types of alpacas are huacaya and suri. Ninety-five percent of alpacas are huacayas. There are only about 5,000 registered suri in the United States.

“Alpacas have no top, front teeth. Interestingly, an adult male alpaca’s upper and lower incisors and lower canines develop into fighting teeth or fangs that can be more than 1.2 inches (3 centimeters) long.

“As in ancient days, alpacas are important to Andean herders, providing luxury fiber and meat. Their compact size contributes to easy management and to desirability as a companion animal. Alpacas easily learn to lead, jump in and out of vehicles, cush (sit down) and obey other simple commands.

“Alpacas are social herd animals, and their only defense is flight. As they feel safest in numbers and have such strong herding instincts, it is best not to have just one alpaca.”

See more of our eclectic collection of outdoor pet photography, which includes birds of prey and wild horses. And, of course, there are lots of pets on this website: golden retrievers, Weimaraners and more.