About Wilderness Alpacas

For 20 years, we lived in a quiet Calgary neighborhood. Our family was healthy and happy, but something was missing. This may sound very cliché but we went for a Sunday drive in the country and saw an acreage for sale. From that point on, we knew what was missing.

In December of 1996, we moved south-east of Calgary to a 23 acre oasis of happiness! We now had our space; but what to do with it? Initially, we rented some land to a neighbor for his cattle and one of our quanset's to another neighbor. Here is where the alpacas come into the scene.

While looking through the local rural newspaper, we saw an add for an alpaca sale 3 hours away. Being very curious about these animals, Barry went to gather information and to see what type of industry this was. That night, he returned with four alpacas, one maiden female, one bred female, one young male and one stud; and so it began. We attended information seminars, conferences and classes. This led to the purchase of six more alpacas, and then 20 more within 2 years. We have now bred our herd up to over 130 alpacas.

In early 2002, Jason came into the picture, dating Teresa. Not only did he fall in love with her, but the alpacas as well. Coming from a cattle farming family, Jason felt right at home with our operation. We are proud to welcome him as a part of our family and team.

We pride ourselves on knowledge and experience with our animals. We continue to keep informed and research any new developing technology and information in the alpaca field. Our herd consists of top quality huacaya alpacas bred for superior fiber, conformation, genetics and disposition.

Our future is bright with many exciting roads ahead. We continue on this amazing journey with great anticipation towards the future. Remembering where we started from and pushing through on the open roads ahead, we definitely made a change in the right direction!

Barry & Shirley Charters, Teresa, Jason & Joshua Cooper

Wilderness Alpacas