COULD it be something to do with the climate change? Or will they become the only paying animals on farms? The landscape around Church Hill is beginning to change to a more exotic type of animal, more commonly associated with the southern hemisphere – alpacas have found their way into Fermanagh agriculture.

Patrick Greenaway, of Drummenagh Beg, Church Hill, has imported the first herd of 50 alpacas into the county, to begin a breeding enterprise that he hopes to expand.

The alpaca, a native of the Andes in Chile and Peru in South America, is now being famed throughout the world for the high-quality fibre they produce in the same way sheep will produce a fleece of wool. The fibre is now sought after much more than cashmere, and is made into top-of-the-range garments now found in the top stores of London and other major cities.

This week Patrick was overjoyed as one of his pregnant females had just given birth to a young, called a cria, just two days after arriving from France.

“Alpacas are very much pack animals and singling one out on its own, say for a pet, would probably kill it,” he said.

Patrick says his objective is to expand the herd up to several hundred and breeding for fibre crimping, which will mean it will be in very strong demand.