AN ADORABLE baby alpaca has been born at a popular attraction in the Malvern Hills area.

Alpaca Meadows, in The Rhydd, is a tearoom, bed and breakfast and a site where you can meet alpacas and take them for walks.

A cria, the name for a baby alpaca, called Bonnie was born, weighing 7.3kg, at 9.20am on (Thursday, May 18).

The mother alpaca, Griselda, had a safe birth and was out in the field with Bonnie shortly after for all to see.

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Tricia Stapleton, the owner of Alpaca Meadows, said how special and exciting the birth was.

She said: "It was amazing. We had our first cria birth last year so we knew what to expect, but Alpacas are very independent and it is very rarely that intervention is required.

"It was a very special moment for us here and we had a lot of excited customers who were eager to see how the baby was getting on."

The idea for Alpaca Meadows came from the pandemic and Mrs Stapleton had no idea how successful the business would become. 

She said: "We were fortunate enough to purchase the land around us in 2017 and for a while, we left the fields as they were.

"I was able to keep some alpacas and chickens just as pets at first, but by the time the pandemic rolled around, I was made redundant from my job.

"I thought that maybe we could do something with the alpacas and also open a tearoom. I had no idea how successful it would be as we are in the middle of nowhere really but our alpaca walks have proved to be really popular."

Alpaca Meadows also are carers of Donkeys from the Donkey Sanctuary, chickens and will soon be getting pygmy goats.

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According to Saving the Survivors, Alpacas breed once each year, and their gestation period lasts from 242 to 345 days, roughly 11 months.

They can only carry one cria at a time, which are generally born in the spring between May and September. 

At birth, a cria weighs from six to eight kilograms and as adults, they can weigh up to 70kg.

For more information on alpaca meadows, you can visit https://www.facebook.com/TriciaStapleton71.