NORTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — Lehigh Valley Zoo recently welcomed its first-ever newborn female alpaca, and it's looking for a name.
The baby — technically called a cria — was born Oct. 23.
She is the third offspring for mother Illuminati and father Havoc, joining brothers Buzz (born Sept. 12, 2023) and Tupaca (born Aug. 22, 2024), the zoo said.
The zoo said she increases its zoo’s alpaca herd to five.
"She was a tiny bundle of fluff, weighing just under 10 pounds."Lehigh Valley Zoo
But unlike the rest of her family, the cria has a black fleece, the zoo said.
Black-colored alpacas are very rare and very fittingly, she was born around Halloween, the zoo said in a release.
The new alpaca still needs a name. The zoo is seeking name suggestions on Facebook and will let the animal care staff select its favorite submission, it said.
"She was a tiny bundle of fluff, weighing just under 10 pounds," the zoo says on Facebook. By comparison, it says, brother Tupaca tipped the scales at 13.6 pounds.
"She was a small cria ... so it was also important to ensure that she was nursing well and growing steadily," the zoo says on the Facebook post.
"Our animal care team made sure she was nursing well and growing strong."
Guests can visit 'the new addition'
Cria typically nurse for about five months, and start sampling solid foods around a month old, the post says.
Shortly after the cria was born, the zoo’s animal care staff relocated her and mother into a separate, adjacent pasture to let the newborn nurse and bond with her mother, the zoo says.
"The little cria seems to be enjoying life with her whole family."Lehigh Valley Zoo
This week, the herd was reunited, "and the little cria seems to be enjoying life with her whole family," the zoo said in an email.
"They are all now currently living in a pasture where guests can visit the newest addition."
Lehigh Valley Zoo now is operating under winter hours, open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Tickets can be purchased at the zoo website.
Alpaca gestation typically lasts 11-12 months, or 320-375 days.
Mother Illuminati, 7, and father Havoc, 9, arrived at the zoo together in October 2022 from a private facility for breeding purposes, the zoo said.
Alpacas are native to the central and southern Andes Mountains, from Peru to Argentina, and are the smallest of the domesticated camelid species.
