A RENOWNED Eden alpaca herd is to be sold at a special auction next month.

Breed pioneer Pat Bentley is retiring and disposing of her Syke House alpaca herd at Harrison and Hetherington’s Borderway Mart in Carlisle.

The 19 breeding females, three females with four calves at foot, including a set of twins, three stud males, seven entire males and 11 gelded males will go under the hammer on May 5.

Mrs Bentley, 78, is a founder member and former chairman of the British Alpaca Society.

Based at Newby near Penrith, she has been involved with the animals for three decades.

She spent nearly four years securing a licence to bring the animals into the UK from their native Chile and her licences were numbers one and two, the first licenses issued in Britain. At its peak, she had a herd of over 200.

“I can no longer give my alpacas the attention they deserve and sadly none of my family are in a position to take them on,” she said.

“They are good animals. I want them to go to good knowledgeable homes or to good homes with people who are prepared to learn. I will always be happy to share my knowledge and help in any way I can.”

She added: “They can graze nicely on parts of the farm that aren’t suited to other animals; they are remarkably efficient. They are a very, very ancient breed and they are therefore resistant to diseases and incredibly strong, they would do well on the fells.”

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Although alpacas are increasingly common in showing classes at agricultural events, Mrs Bentley pioneered keeping the animals for their fleeces.

Alpaca is the strongest natural fibre after silk and keepers are now reaching sufficient numbers in the UK to make it a viable industry with the right promotion.

Mrs Bentley’s alpacas have been specifically bred with stud males with dense fleeces to produce large animals with more fibre.

Anne Wharton’s Little Strickland alpaca herd and seven females from Robin Sandys-Clarke’s Whynot herd will also be auctioned on May 5.