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Security Science

Microchips to Save Peru's Alpacas 84

Posted by simoniker from the llama-world dept.
lakeesis writes "BBC News has published an article stating: 'Peru has launched a campaign to implant microchips in hundreds of pedigree alpacas to try to stop the best animals being smuggled out of the country. Officials say they know alpacas are being sneaked across Peru's borders'."
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Microchips to Save Peru's Alpacas More

Microchips to Save Peru's Alpacas

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  • Technology for the sake of technology? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by metlin ( 258108 ) * on Sunday May 23, 2004 @05:03AM (#9228681) Journal

    All it takes for the people smuggling the animals is to take a hand-held scanner and find out the location of the microchip and cut it out.

    If it is easy to implant, it would be easy to remove.

    Hmm, looks like they are just trying to throw technology at a problem hoping it would work.

    Then again, ofcourse, the smugglers maybe quite unaware of this and the more gullible ones may just get caught.

    And oh, first post?

    • Re:Technology for the sake of technology? (Score:5, Informative)

      by shikra ( 751390 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @05:33AM (#9228750) Journal
      Apparently you have not had any real world contact with such technology. I happen to be in rather close contact with the Asian Arowana (Scleropages formosus) industry, and this technology has been used rather successfully. The fish has been deemed endangered by CITES, and as such it would be illegal to catch it from the wild. CITES-registered farms are required to tag each fish with an electronic microchip, and these farm-raised fish can then be exported or sold domestically. All the officials needed to do during their routine checks for illegal stock is to scan the fish in question with a hand-held scanner, which would reveal a registration number instantly (which could be matched with a paper certificate of authenticity).
      • Peru forbids the export of price winning thingies (to lazy to check the name) and you could conclude that the export of non-pricewinning thingies is therefore accetable.

        So cutting out the microship turns a banned export into a legal export.

        Whereas in your example cutting it out would turn a legal export into an illegal one. If you had illegal fish you would have to insert a chip. This is probably a lot more work. Also fish don't have fur with wich to cover the wound.

      • To his credit, the parent did seem a bit misleading and certainly had me on the same high horse as him.
      • This is a different solution to the problem - an animal for resale is required to have a chip. This would be difficult to defeat (without accessing someone within the system). If an animal must not have a chip to be available for resale, all you need is a scalpel and some foreceps. Maybe a scanner, if they all don't go in the same general spot.

    • Re:Technology for the sake of technology? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by kfg ( 145172 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @06:47AM (#9228887)
      the smugglers maybe quite unaware of this and the more gullible ones may just get caught.

      The people who do the smuggling are not peasants or petty criminals. It's an upscale crime undertaken by those who are already quite well off, by the very nature of what's required to pull it off. Smugglers in business suits driving Mercedes, who read newspapers.

      And a legitimate pedigreed Purvian alpaca might bring as much as $100,000.

      That's right, for a single animal. We're talking big business here. An American bred alpaca with a couple of show ribbons to its credit might well run you $30,000.

      The headline is misleading. The Peruvian alpaca is in no danger. It's in danger of spreading. What's at risk is the market value of Peruvian alpaca fleece. For the most part what's going on constitutes what most people think of as "saving" an animal today.

      Camalids are being reintroduced into territories in which they have become extinct.

      This is a trade embargo vs. free trade/open market issue, not a "saving the poor little furry thing" issue. The only animals being moved are pedigree domestic stock. 4H club stuff. Legitimate tradable goods that the government doesn't want traded out of the country.

      KFG
    • >If it is easy to implant, it would be easy to remove.

      Or modded. A multi-region animal ought to be easy to move into another country.

  • Removal? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by LordChaos ( 2432 )
    Won't the smugglers just remove the chips, much in the same way that people now remove microchips from pedigree animals stolen from family homes?
    I personally think they will have to do a bit better than this, but full marks for trying :)

    • Re:Removal? (Score:4, Informative)

      by acceber ( 777067 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @05:24AM (#9228732)
      The plan is to tag some 900 top alpacas within five years.

      I understand that Peru wants to save their pedigrees but tagging 900 out of 3,000,000 native Alpacas isn't going to be very effective. Although it's a great initiative, they're only micro-chipping a mere 0.03% which would make catching smugglers are very inefficient process.

      • Re:Removal? (Score:1, Informative)

        by daniil ( 775990 )
        But protecting every alpaca from being smuggled out of the country isn't even the point. The point of this program seems to be to keep the "best" (best from whose point of view?) alpacas in. They are only going to tag 900 animals, as they assume that the smugglers won't be interested in the other three million animals (and if they are, then it still isn't as great a loss to the economy as the loss of these pedigree animals would presumably be).

      • Re:Removal? (Score:5, Interesting)

        by 0x0d0a ( 568518 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @05:48AM (#9228777) Journal
        You are assuming an even distribution in alpaca quality. We know that this is not the case, as there are specific alpacas that are banned from being exported.

        If smugglers are trying to export the best of the best, it's likely that:

        * These alpacas are separated from the rest of the herd to avoid unwanted damage and breeding. This probably makes them easier to identify.

        * Even if mixed with lesser speciments of their breed, these alpacas may be visually differentiable to someone familiar with judging alpaca quality. For instance, let us assume that Peru is breeding alpacas to have particularly large, firm rear ends [slashdot.org]. One would imagine that someone that has worked intimately with alpacas for years would be able to quickly visually skim over alpacas and identify the ones to be stolen. It's even possible that they could take part in an "inside job" -- being hired by an alpaca owner, identifying the best alpacas, and then taking a list or marking these to later be stolen.

        * There is presumably some dissuasive factor involved in making the statement of microchip presence at *all*. Heck, the chips don't even really have to be there -- it'd drive a smuggler mad to think that he stole what seems to be a really excellent, high-quality alpaca, but cannot find the supposed embedded chip.

        * I'm of the suspicion that many Peruvian alpaca rustlers may have been deprived of a thorough statistics education (thus forcing them to smuggle alpacas instead of becoming credit card market analysts). They may not catch on to how unlikely it is to get the short straw -- Americans certainly don't when it comes to lotteries, for instance.

  • Safeguard the genepool? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by metlin ( 258108 ) * on Sunday May 23, 2004 @05:05AM (#9228687) Journal
    Sheesh! The things people do for greed.

    "...safeguard the gene pool of its three million-strong herd."

    You mean, safeguard the genepool to stay within Peru. Heh.

    Peruvian law bans the exportation of alpacas that win pedigree certificates.

    Wow. Safeguard the genepool so that the best stay within my borders. Not to troll, but unless these have been specially bred (say, genetically modified), you are trying to hold onto what nature has bestowed upon you.

    And prevent the best from getting out, so that if there is any disease or epidemic, the best will all die out with not too many of them outside my borders.

    And that is good how?

    • Re:Safeguard the genepool? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Prof.Phreak ( 584152 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @05:30AM (#9228741) Homepage
      ...are trying to hold onto what nature has bestowed upon...

      Sorta like some countries like to protect their natural resources from getting out... like oil.

      Shame on them!
      • Sorta like some countries like to protect their natural resources from getting out... like oil.

        Shame on them!

        Hi, I'm from Norway, the third largest exporter of oil in the world. You can have all the oil you want from us, provided you pay market price and keep your fucking army on the right side of the atlantic.

        Also, the difference between oil and alpakkas is of course that you can continue exporting oil and never run the risk of having some competitor set up his own oil-field based on top stuff he

    • Here's a precolumbian history lesson (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      [i]"Not to troll, but unless these have been specially bred (say, genetically modified), you are trying to hold onto what nature has bestowed upon you."[/i]

      Alpacas were specially bred by native americans to create fine lineages of different quality hair. The hair was woven into prized high quality fabrics.

      When the Europeans came, they saw the Alpacas as beasts of burden and used them as such. They took the high quality alpacas (extremely fine and long hair fibers) and carelessly bred them with low quali
    • i mean, a day doesn't pass where i am not reminded of the terrible capitalist peruvian greedy hegemony that hangs over the entire world

      the truth is, a lot of 3rd world countries are fighting tooth and nail with large corporations which try to PATENT the genetic legacy of creatures which live within their borders

      now you tell me about justice: does peru deserve the bounty of the creatures that live within its borders? or monsanto or archers daniel midland?

      now in an ideal world, no one would own the genetic
      • Sounds to me like the Peruvians are trying to play the same game as companies that patent stuff. They're hoarding the superior genetic material, using government and laws to keep the rest of us from having it's benefits.

        Now, what were you saying again??
  • All your Alpacas are belong to us.
  • Maybe Peru could start the new fad of turning 'pedigrees' into intellectual property.. It is bound to happen sooner or later with animals.

  • Best... quote... ever! (Score:5, Funny)

    by nacturation ( 646836 ) <nacturation AT gmail DOT com> on Sunday May 23, 2004 @05:12AM (#9228707) Journal
    From the article:
    Alpacas, along with related llamas, vicunas and guanacos, are native to South America but are increasingly popular in other parts of the world - not only for their fleeces.

    They also make tasty, lean steaks.
    • They're also being exploited by the motion picture industry-- When I saw the picture I thought it was funny.. but later on when I found out that it endangered them.. I felt really sad...

      Directed By

      40 SPECIALLY TRAINED ECUADORIAN MOUNTAIN LLAMAS
      6 VENEZUELAN RED LLAMAS
      142 MEXICAN WHOOPING LLAMAS
      14 NORTH CHILEAN GUANACOS (CLOSELY RELATED TO THE LLAMA)
      REG LLAMA OF BRIXTON
      76000 BATTERY LLAMAS FROM "LLAMA-FRESH" FARMS LTD. NEAR PARAGUAY

      and

      TERRY GILLIAM & TERRY JONES

      Sad. Tragic.
    • depending on how large these microchips are, after eating one of those steaks, you may find yourself being hunted by l33t peruvian rangers, insisting you are an alpaca

    • They also make tasty, lean steaks.

      I can confirm that. I went to Peru two years ago to climb [kjernsmo.net], and upon arriving in Cusco, the first thing was of course to go to a restaurant, feeling slightly adventureous, and try the local specialitites.

      I tried the alpaca and it is just awesome. It's like when to try the first bite, you think "well, I'm certainly never have a normal steak again, after tasting this!" Then you realize that this animal lives only at the high plains and marshlands [kjernsmo.net] of Peru (and that's

  • Suppose it wouldn't go over well with the wife... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    if I asked about getting these for the kids? Sure, there is probably some kind of law against, but *you* try keeping track of a three year old in a supermarket.

  • I would stop stealing them... (Score:5, Funny)

    by imag0 ( 605684 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @05:24AM (#9228730) Homepage
    I would stop stealing them if they stopped making them so goddammed cute!
  • I can put a chip in my dog to ID it in case it strays or is stolen. Why is it news that someone is doing this alpaca's? It's bad enough that it's a slow day on BBC - but this stuff shouldn't raise a blip here. BTW - tagging 900 in five years? that doesn't sound very much. I mean, 3 alpaca's a week is hardly difficult. If there are 5000 alpas's in NZ (a href="http://www.lifestyleblock.co.nz/articles/753 _Alpaca_farming.htm">soucrce then I expect there are a tad more in south america.

  • Finally (Score:2, Funny)

    by fiskbil ( 734457 )
    Thank god!

    I've been so worried about those poor alpacas I've been having trouble sleeping. We all know the only people who can properly care for alpacas are from Peru.
  • If I am going to smuggle something over the border, I'm not likely to admit to the authorities that this thing exists in my possession. If it doesn't "exist" then they cannot put a microchip in it can they.

  • Its a conspiracy! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by dj245 ( 732906 ) on Sunday May 23, 2004 @05:51AM (#9228786) Homepage
    I don't know if the rest of you have seen the Alpaca commercials, but they reek of Multilevel marketing (MLM) pyramid schemes. They make it clear that you will raise Alpacas, then you will get others interested in Aplacas, and then you will sell them Alpacas! Kind of like the 1. 2.? 3. Underwear knome thing only less innocent and more evil. In fact, 8 of the top 10 Google hits for Alpaca [google.com] are not articles of clothing made of Alpaca or Alpaca steak, but Alpacas for sale.

    This has me worried though (from the article):
    "We know that alpacas are being moved across the border with Bolivia and then on to Chile," Pilar Tuppia from Peru's National Council of South American Camelids told the Associated Press.
    This included "unscrupulous individuals" buying top animals from poor people in the countryside, she said."

    If these people's animals are such top-notch and pedigree, why are they so poor and living in the countryside? Isn't the Alpaca industry booming [ilovealpacas.com]?

    I'm not the only person to thing that the Alpaca business is a little fishy. See here [countrybynet.com] and here (google cache of geocities page) [216.239.39.104]

    • Re:Its a conspiracy! (Score:3, Insightful)

      by mangu ( 126918 )
      Since it's reportedly a growing business, it's natural that a significant part of the market is selling studs to farmers. However, alpaca does have a market that's potentially much better than the emu and ostrich farming mentioned by the links you posted. Alpacas produce a fine wool, much nicer to the touch than sheep wool. They also come in several diferent natural colors.

      The part about poor people having top animals sounds strange. If that's true, then instead of trying to tag the animals they should be

    • The 'marketing scum' you refer to always appear at the introduction of some new superior technology or product. Hell, those were the sorts of people who opened 'computer stores' in the mid 80's (not the 'hackers', I mean that fat ugly guy in the bad suit selling '486 boxes to your dad with a 70% markup).

      Same as it ever was. It's wrong to indict the superior tech/product based on the kind of scum that gathers over it (not really 'around' it.)
    • This reminds me of the Emu pyramid scheme that happened a decade or so back in the USA.

      One of my relatives bet the farm (literally) on raising them. They were supposed to be really healthy meat or something like that. Naturally, when all you do with an animal is breed it, since it's too expensive to butcher for food, the market is going to get saturated exponentially, and the price will plummet.

      This is true even if Emus did displace cows for meat ... it would just have taken a few years longer since Emus
  • Does this mean now that the Alpacas will be able to easily buy drinks in Ibiza? [slashdot.org]
  • .... so with a large border, the chance of a smuggling operation being intercepted is zero. So why bother, or do they rely on the smugglers not knowing the limitations of the technology?

    Implants like these generally need the scanner to be within feet or inches to be detected.

    There has to be a better way of doing this.

  • "Microchips to Save Peru's Alpacas".

    That just sounds really funny.

  • Too Bad (Score:3, Insightful)

    by annielaurie ( 257735 ) <annekmadison@h[ ]ail.com ['otm' in gap]> on Sunday May 23, 2004 @08:50AM (#9229106) Journal
    They have enough money to acquire implants for their top alpacas, but they don't seem to be able to summon up what's needed to develop a viable textile industry for the benefit of the people who raise and work with the alpacas.

    It's a marvelous wool--warm, lightweight, soft, and non-allergenic. It can be spun and knitted or woven into highly coveted, very expensive textiles. I suspect that if more thought were put into this effort, the owners of the pedigreed alpacas would have more interest in keeping them at home in Peru.

    Anne
    • Sadly, third world exploition usually amounts to forcing poor people to export their raw materials to industrial centers elsewhere in the world.

      You're right that they should bring up a local industry and export fabric, yarn, or even completed items. It would employ the local people.

      But they'd need capital to get something like that started up, and both the left ('we can't be exporting our skilled Union jobs!') and the right ('give money to those dirt people and they'll fritter it away on baubles') conspi
  • ...issuing double-barrelled shotguns to kill malaria-infested mosquitos. While it might work on some level, I find it unlikely that the alpaca-smuggling industry is going to be crippled by these measures. All the smuggler has to do is get his hands on a scanner, find the implant, and remove it. Or, if he's not particularly concerned about being able to sell the Alpaca on the white market, just ignore the thing altogether. I doubt the buyers will mind.
  • How much does George Lucas know about this subject? Here's a little quote from one source:
    JABBA THE HUTT

    What if everyone who smuggled alpacas
    for me dropped their cargo at the first sign
    of a Peruvian farmer?
  • I'm astonished that nobody's objected yet to the idea of implanting microchips in alpacas - without their consent, obviously, since they can't give it - and then using the chips to make sure they can't cross borders.

    Replace "alpacas" in the above sentence with "immigrants" (or "the mentally handicapped") and there'd be a huge outcry about evil government conspiracies. As it is, the only real debate seems to be "will it work?"

    "But alpacas aren't people!" C'mon, what happened to the good ole' slippery slo
  • Officials say they know alpacas are being "sneaked" across Peru's borders.

    Yes, let's trust these officials. They are obviously brilliant people, along the line of Dan Quayle.

    Excuse me, now. My alpaca dealer is on the other line.
  • All this time, people thought I was paranoid. Turns out I just think I'm an alpaca!
  • The alpaca (Lama pacos) is featured on the front of the rather new (2003) O'Reilly book, Learning Perl Objects, References & Modules [oreilly.com] .
  • Ths would have generated much more of a response if "RFID" was mentioned.
  • ...Peru is real?

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