Order a coffee at the Multi Zoo on the edge of Islamabad and there is a decent chance a woolly face will appear over the fence to inspect your snack. The zoo has opened an attraction called Coffee with Alpaca, where visitors sit at café tables right beside an enclosure holding ten of the animals.
Staff say no other place in Pakistan keeps a herd like it. White, brown and dark-coated animals roam the pen alongside a few llamas, and the youngsters in particular draw crowds. On October 25, children and parents lined the fence to stroke the alpacas and hold out fruit and vegetables for them to nibble.
Getting them settled took some improvising. Alpacas are camelids from the chilly high plateaus of the Andes, bred mainly for their soft fleece, and that thick coat makes it hard for them to shed heat. This herd arrived in the middle of summer. “They are winter animals,” Muhammad Younas, who runs the zoo, said in comments to AFP, explaining that his team set up air coolers around the enclosure to keep them comfortable.
Animal-care experts say that is the issue to watch. A mix of high temperatures, humidity, direct sun and poor airflow can push alpacas into heat stress, which can turn deadly if missed. Fast breathing, panting with an open mouth and unusual sluggishness are the classic warning signs, so shade, water and regular veterinary checks will matter when the next hot season comes around.
For now, the mood is pure delight. Clips of families sipping drinks while an alpaca leans in for a carrot are circulating on social media, turning a suburban zoo into one of the more unusual coffee stops in the region.
