Charles Ledger's Alpacas

Charles Ledger c.1852

As early as 1803, Governor King had suggested introducing llamas. However, there were no serious attempts to farm these animals until 1853, when Charles Ledger suggested their introduction. Ledger proposed that as alpacas (Lama pacos) thrive at elevations of 14,000 to 16,000 feet in Peru the species would do well in the Monaro Plains of New South Wales. He discussed the proposition to introduce both llamas and alpacas with the Governor, Sir Charles Fitz Roy. Thomas Sutcliffe Mort was a successful businessman in Sydney who had an interest in textiles and could see that the blending of cotton, silk, and alpaca would enhance the future of the wool industry. Mort supported Ledger in his efforts and delivered a paper on the Alpaca to the Australian Society in 1857. Ledger claimed that he was promised a grant of 10,000 acres if he could bring 100 alpacas into the colony. In order to get the animals he had to evade the ban placed by the Peruvian Government on their export. Ledger assembled a mixed herd of approximately 600 alpacas and llamas in Peru, near the border of Bolivia. He drove the herd overland to Argentina, then on over the Andes mountains in Chile. The journey was fraught with difficulties and many of the animals were lost during the trek and during a severe snowstorm in the Andes. Ledger arrived at Copiapo, on the Chile coast, with 336 of his original herd. He shipped these on the Salvatore and eventually reached Sydney with 276.

Unfortunately for Ledger, by the time he arrived back in Sydney, alpacas had been introduced in Victoria in 1853 and by Titus Salt to South Australia in 1857 and 1858. Ledger’s animals were now old news to the populace.

On arrival, Ledger’s animals were turned out in the Sydney Domain, then transferred to Liverpool and finally to Wingello, near Goulburn. By 1861 the herd had increased to 417. The Government purchased the whole flock for £15,000, one of the conditions being that Ledger would be appointed superintendent of the flock. Ledger, who was unable to conform with public-service book-keeping methods, was dismissed, although he managed the flock successfully. After Ledger’s dismissal, sheep scab appeared in the animals, followed by severe losses. During the 1862 and 1863 drought, in which 200 of the camelids died, the Government decided to disband the flock and offered llamas and alpacas for sale, eventually giving them away to graziers.

Source: The Australian Ark: A History of Domesticated Animals in Australia by Ian Parsonson (1998).
Image: Arthursleigh: A History of the Property 1819 to 1979 by Chrissy Fletcher (2002)


Has anyone in your family been involved in alpaca farming in the Southern Tablelands? Please share their experiences.