Berserk Male Syndrome

We have just been told of a very dangerous incident of a male that knocked its owner to the ground and in doing so knocking the owner unconscious. The male is a 7 year old that was sold as a young 12 month old, cute and friendly pet who was uncastrated. The owner bought it and another uncastrated male to guard his sheep but kept them near by so they could hand feed them and fuss over them.

As the dominant uncastrated male got bigger, he would front up to the owners and later started to become increasingly territorial and aggressive, and obsessed with fighting for territorial disputes, even if it meant fighting with humans. The male became increasingly frustrated with his surroundings and was one day found in a neighbouring property mating a llama. The llama was quite a bit bigger than the male but he managed to chase it down and get it onto the ground.

On the day of the incident, the owner went into the paddock and was attacked, knocked unconscious, while on the ground unconscious the owner was stomped on and bitten on the neck by the dominant male alpaca. 45 minutes later the owner woke to be sore and very scratched up.

The uncastrated male has now become a real problem as he is no longer safe to be around. The incident could have been a lot worse if the fighting teeth of the alpaca had punctured an artery in the owners neck or knocked the owner unconscious into a near by water trough.

A lesson for all alpaca breeders is to castrate all male alpacas that will be sold for use as pets or sheep guardians as they are much safer to be around and will have a much better personality towards humans.

Alpaca Maintenance - More information on alpacas

Putting weight on thin alpacas
Fencing for alpacas
How to determine signs of a sick alpaca
Basic first aid kit for alpacas
Alpaca body temperatures
Can cold and wet weather affect alpacas?
Making sense of the alpaca fibre analysis
Rye grass staggers
Taking the perfect alpaca photograph
Facial abscess
Berserk male syndrome
Vitamin D
Weaning
Constipated crias
Preparation for Winter
Keeping alpaca records
Alpacas need head-space
Testing for parasites
Birthing help
Cutting Toenails
A Working Dog's Guide to Alpacas
Paddock Maintenance
Alpacas for Pets
Alpacas as Sheep Guardians