Alpaca mother and baby doing well after vet answers a cria for help
But it was touch and go for them both two weeks ago when it became apparent that six-year-old Maybell needed a Caesarean cut to help her give birth – a rare event in alpaca herds and a first for Julian Norton from the Skeldale Veterinary Centre at Thirsk, which mainly handles sheep and cattle.
The alpaca is a Peruvian cousin of the camel which has become fashionable here as a pet and a producer of fine fibre.
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Hide AdMr Norton said later: "The interesting thing was the reason the operation was needed, which was a uterus twisted practically 360 degrees, so the baby simply could not be delivered normally.
"We see it in sheep fairly rarely and in cattle a bit more commonly, but of course this was the first time I had seen it in an alpaca."
He was called out by Marina Fowler-Jones and husband Trevor, who work with daughter and son-in-law Linda and Ed McDonald at Whitestonecliffe Alpacas, Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe, near Thirsk.
They have named the little survivor Marbella.