Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock 3.3
STANDARD 6 | 
Air transport of livestock

6.2.1 - Alpacas must not be sourced for export or exported unless they have a liveweight of 20kg or more and are at least 3 months old.

6.2.2 - Alpacas must not be sourced for export or exported unless they have been assessed by a competent stock handler against the alpaca body condition scoring in Table 24 and have a body condition score of 2 or more but less than 4 (on a scale of 1 to 5).

Table 24 Alpaca body condition score

Score

Description

Illustration

1

Severely concave between spine and ribs. The backbone is very noticeable, ribs are clearly felt and brisket shows no fat.

Image

2

Slightly concave between spine and ribs. You can feel backbone, ribs are noticeable and brisket is firm.

Image

3

Neither concave nor convex between spine and ribs. You can feel the backbone, but it does stand out and you can just feel the ribs and the brisket.

Image

4

Slightly convex between spine and ribs. You can feel the backbone, but it does not stand out and you can just feel the ribs and the brisket.

Image

5

Severely convex between spine and ribs, the top of the back feels flat. You cannot feel backbone or ribs, brisket wobbles when touched.

Image

Source: Australian Alpaca Association

Figure 3 Visual aid for assisting with body condition scoring of alpacas

Image

Source: Australian Alpaca Association

Figure 3 is an example of how to body score an alpaca by placing your hand on the backbone, just forward of the pelvic area (toward the last of the ribs).

6.2.3 - Female alpacas with a weight of 35kg or more sourced for export as feeder or slaughter animals must be individually pregnancy tested using ultrasound within 30 days prior to export, by a registered veterinarian with demonstrable current experience in camelid pregnancy diagnosis, who must certify in writing that the animal is not detectably pregnant. The certification must include the certifier's name, veterinary registration number, statement of experience, signature, the animal's identification and the date of the procedure.

6.2.4 - Female alpacas with a weight of 35kg or more sourced for export as breeder animals must:

  1. be pregnancy tested using ultrasound foetal measurement by a registered veterinarian with demonstrable current experience in camelid pregnancy diagnosis; and
  2. be certified in writing by the testing veterinarian as either not detectably pregnant or pregnant and if pregnant include the number of days pregnant. The certification must include the certifier's name, veterinary registration number, statement of experience, signature, the individual identification number of the animal and the date of the procedure. Certification is valid for 60 days for not detectably pregnant alpaca, from the date of the procedure; and
  3. be not more than 227 days pregnant at the scheduled date of export, unless otherwise provided in a last third of pregnancy management plan approved in writing by the department.

6.2.5 - Alpacas must be penned in accordance with the minimum aircraft crate pen area requirements shown in Table 25. For weights between those shown in Table 25, the minimum pen area per head must be calculated by linear interpolation.

6.2.6 - When calculating pen allocation, the pen area per head must be increased by 10% for alpacas with more than 25mm of wool.

6.2.7 - Alpacas must have enough space to be able to cush during transport; that is sit with their legs folded underneath them.

Table 25 Minimum aircraft crate pen area for alpacas exported by air

Liveweight (kg)

Minimum pen area (m2/head)

20

0.238

30

0.311

40

0.377

50

0.436

60

0.492

70

0.545

80

0.595

90

0.643

100

0.689

110

0.734

120

0.778