Any ideas to the killer of this

Steyer 6.5

Well-Known Member
I was asked my opinion as to what had killed an alpaca that was fully grown living with 6 others. The Alpaca was found dead in the shelter after dragging itself there after been attacked overnight in the field. The pics were taken after the wound had been cleaned by a vet. Location is near Stratford. There were no other injuries anywhere else on the animal and none of the other Alpacas were injured.

Any ideas?

​i have my own idea and will be going to the ground with lamp and rifle.
 
I would say you are going to need a bigger gun mate !!!:eek:
Seriously though a good sized dog or probably dogs ? Any where near any 'camp sites' ?
 
Well I would be pritty sure it wasnt a dog becouse of wound position unless it was laying out in the feild asleep that is but dogs generally go for the throught from what I've seen
 
That staining of the fleece looks like a bad case of maggots. Was it seen to be ok on the previous day?
 
Grafton fly ford is between Stratford and Worcester... It is also within easy reach of the many caravan utilising nomadic travelling fraternity around the evesham area...
 
Must admit does look like fly strike. I would off thought a bit late for that but mibee 've still got flies further down south the now?

U said wound was cleaned by a vet? Wot did they think? Would off thought he would off recognised fly strile

From the little i know about alpacha's meant to be vicous ba***rds when they want to be, doubt very much would attack an healthy adult.
As the wool? coat/hair looks pretty good if any sanimal had attacked it i would off expected to see patches of bare skin, big clumps missing and scratch marks and clumps around the field where it was attacked
Finally can't think any animal that would not go for the throat when animal was disabled, if a dog attack often the ears are ripped to
 
Looks very much like Fly strike but there seems to be no maggots around the wound now and a vet would surely have notice/diagnosed that after a PM?
The staining looks like its been there longer than 24 hours,was there no sign on the previous day?
It doesnt seem a bad enough wound to kill the otherwise fit looking animal.
It may have been got at by birds???

​What was the vets opinion?
 
i'd be of the maggot opinion too!, how experienced are the folk who own the animals? , the give away as to if it was or wasn't strike, besides the maggots themselves which may have dropped off or moved away from the strike site, is the smell but i would have thought any vet worth his salt would recognise strike .I would have thought too the animals mouth would be stained from nibbling and biting at the strike site if it could reach it
are there any actual puncture wounds from teeth ? certainly looks like a very strange place to be attacked
 
Maggots.
Quite common for it to occur in the middle of the back on clean animals, particularly in warm moist weather. No wound needed - can start from bird droppings in the fleece, where magpies perch. Especially if the animals are getting supplementary feed which attracts corvids. Having said that, magpies can also cause wounds to the back, and eventually kill the animal, either directly or indirectly (maggots, secondary infection etc).
In extensive sheep flocks it's almost inevitable that some serious maggot cases will be seen, but it's inexcusable for it to progress to this stage in what is effectively a "pet" animal that's presumably checked on a daily basis? The owners of this alpaca should be asking themselves some fairly searching questions about their suitability to keep livestock - they're clearly lacking in basic stockmanship skills to have let it progress to this stage. Even if it turns out not to have been fly-strike, it's clear from the photos that this animal has been in a bad way for several days.
 
I would suggest a fly swat rather than the magnum and agree with fly strike. Any predator would have targeted the neck.
 
A dog would have made a lot more mess, especially on an animal of that size. On sheep dogs go for front / back ends, we had some sheep attacked many years ago and it was all face / head and a bit of leg damage. I would think fly strike.

​WH
 
Back
Top