Ontario's surging alpaca scene gets boost from the United Nations

What's trendy for 2024?

Have you considered a family of long-necked, hardy, two-toed mammals carrying loads and growing in-demand fleece?

Calling them the "heroes of deserts and highlands," the United Nations declared 2024 the International Year of Camelids.

It said species such as llamas, alpacas and camels help people stay fed and make money and have cultural significance to people in places like South America's Andean highlands.

They're an example of animals that build resilience to climate change and could do even more good with more awareness and investment, it said.

Alpaca agri-tourism has already been growing in Ontario from five to 10 farms about 20 years ago to more than 60 as of this past summer.

Keith Adam of Serendipity Farm and Sanctuary west of Ottawa started breeding llamas and alpacas as he and his wife transitioned away from corporate careers.

They later started taking in unwanted llamas and alpacas from other farms and became "crazy busy" with llama walks in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"They are very calming creatures, they read people very, very well … they get you to their level, which is just chill," he said on CBC Radio's Ontario Morning on Tuesday.

The farm's owner said alpacas in Ontario are most often bred for their soft, warm fibre and to bring llamas to shows — that economic impact the UN is touting — but also for their softer touch on fields.

"They don't eat anywhere near as much as a horse or cattle and they're very, very easy on your fields. All our grazing fields here, by the time they've grazed them for a while they look kind of like golf greens; they're not all chewed up," he said.

"Then they have communal poop piles, so they just have a pile of poop here and there and the rest is just beautiful grass."

Adam said he expects more interest at his farm and sanctuary because of the UN's declaration and the resulting curiosity.