A COLLEGE is hoping to pack the students in with a new course on looking after an unusual South America animal.

Simon Tomlinson

A COLLEGE is hoping to pack the students in with a new course on looking after an unusual South America animal.

Otley College is launching a leisure-learning programme for 2009 which includes a course for people thinking of owning alpacas.

Helen Rose, from Henley, near Woodbridge, will be running the course.

She said: “Alpacas are bred for their fleece and they are ideal for a small business enterprise on limited acreage.

“Recently the first $1million-dollar alpaca was sold in the USA and they are becoming incredibly popular because of their friendly, curious and passive nature.”

Other subjects that can be studied on the leisure-learning programme include golf, dog grooming, floristry, beekeeping, reflexology, engineering and web design.

Teresa Smy, from the leisure-learning department at Otley, said: “The New Year is a great opportunity to make a resolution, try something different or learn a new skill.

“It doesn't matter if you are eight or 85 as there will be something for everyone to embrace on this new programme.”

For more details about the programme, call Teresa Smy on 01473 784300 or e-mail info@otleycollege.ac.uk.

Do you own alpacas? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.

Alpacas

Alpacas are one of the camelid species, closely related to the llama

They are found mainly in Peru in the Andes, with smaller numbers in Chile and Bolivia

Alpacas have a lifespan of about 20 years

SOURCE: The British Alpaca Society