三级aa视频在线观看-三级国产-三级国产精品一区二区-三级国产三级在线-三级国产在线

USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
China
Home / China / World

Bitter cold devastates alpaca farmers

By Associated Press In San Antonio De Putina, Peru | China Daily | Updated: 2016-07-22 08:04

 Bitter cold devastates alpaca farmers

A man shows his sick alpaca last week in San Antonio de Putina, Peru. Rodrigo Abd / Associated Press

Fleece sold for only $5 a kilogram and a jacket made of the wool can fetch $5,000

After three days of heavy snowfall and bone-chilling temperatures, Mateo Mullisaca watches as one of his alpacas falls to the ground in agony on his farm almost 5,000 meters high in Peru's Andes.

"Without water and without food, the weak ones die," the 62-year-old shepherd said as the animal takes its final breath with vultures lurking nearby.

Peru's government has declared a state of emergency in the southern Andes and promised $3 million in relief amid a bitter cold snap that has killed 50,000 alpacas. Authorities fear that if the mercury continues to hit - 23 C as many as 300,000 camelids could die, devastating the largely indigenous families who raise them.

Mullisaca, who last year lost about a fifth of his herd of 150 animals, said promised food and corrals haven't arrived in large enough numbers to protect them from the cold. Sheep, the only other animal that can survive on the grassland plateaus, are also dying in large numbers as evidenced by Mullisaca's loss the night before of five lambs a few hours after entering the world.

Peru is the world's largest producer of alpaca wool, an almost silky natural fiber coveted by the world's top designers, and has about 4 million of the camelids. But in stark contrast to the high prices charged by the likes of Armani and Gucci is the daily struggle against the elements and poverty by the thousands of shepherds whose livelihood depends on the trade.

The high-altitude rural hamlets where alpacas have been raised for centuries are among the most-deprived in Peru. The more than 120,000 families that make a living from shearing the soft, featherweight fiber earn as little as $1,200 a year, which works out to less than half of Peru's minimum wage.

There have been a few private attempts to give farmers a bigger share of the $150 million Peru exports in alpaca fleece every year. Most sell fleece, on average, for about $5 a kilogram and the fleece passes through several intermediaries before arriving on the shelves of luxury stores where a jacket made of the wool can fetch as much as $5,000.

Major financial loss

Every alpaca that dies represents a major financial loss, explains Isaac Caparo, a veterinarian who specializes in camelids. Each animal's wool can be sheared only once a year and a female gives birth to a single offspring once every 11 months. Every winter freeze destroys the tough grasslands the animals feed on and almost no crops can survive in the nutrient-poor soil.

When alpacas die, families butcher the animals for their meat. But eventually they go hungry and their children can become sick due to an almost-complete lack of heating. Two months into the cold season an estimated 14,000 children in the Andes have suffered from respiratory illnesses and 105 died, according to government figures. The majority of the cases are in the Puno region where the alpacas are concentrated.

 

 

Editor's picks
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 欧美xxxx8888视频 | 五月天婷婷视频 | 久久dvd| 久久精品免视看国产成人2021 | 男女国产一级毛片 | 亚洲成a人片毛片在线 | 国产丝袜美腿高跟白浆 | 99在线国内精品自产拍 | 久久青娱乐 | 国产菲菲视频在线观看 | 亚洲丁香婷婷 | 国产麻豆免费 | 天天操综 | 青草视频免费在线观看 | 免费午夜不卡毛片 | 国产人成激情视频在线观看 | 国产精品免费看久久久 | 国产菲菲视频在线观看 | 久久久精品一区 | 日本粉色视频 | 国产亚洲福利精品一区二区 | 国产精品亚洲欧美日韩久久 | 在线亚州| 伊人色综合琪琪久久社区 | 香蕉在线精品视频在线观看2 | 麻豆果冻国产91在线极品 | 国产精品亚洲va在线观看 | 亚洲在线免费观看 | 韩国主播19福利视频在线观看 | 丰满多水的寡妇毛片免费看 | 男人看片网站 | 青草青草伊人精品视频 | 尤物精品视频在线观看 | 尹人香蕉久久99天天拍欧美p7 | 亚州va| 国产精品网红女主播久久久 | 日本一级特黄a大片在线 | 午夜精品视频在线观看 | 99久久国产综合精品2020 | 亚洲精品国产电影午夜 | 久久99热在线观看7 久久99热只有视精品6国产 |