CUDDLY CAREER; RAISING ALPACAS BRINGS SATISFACTION TO COUPLE IN SOMIS.

Byline: David Greenberg Staff Writer

After 12 years wading through the silicon jungle, Somis couple John and Tina Malkus experienced an emotional short circuit and were looking for an alternative lifestyle.

They found it two years ago in a magazine advertisement trumpeting the world's finest livestock investment that one can also hug: alpacas, the genetic cousin of the llama.

The two downsized their Simi Valley computer chip distribution company, which they said reaped financial rewards in exchange for 12-hour workdays, and fled the city for life on a five-acre ranch.

``It was phenomenally profitable, but phenomenally intense,'' Tina Malkus said of their former life. ``It's a commodities-oriented field. You do burn out. (Alpacas) are so much less pushy and so much more personally rewarding. An alpaca can't argue with you.''

Within two months of seeing the advertisement, the Malkuses purchased their first three of what would soon become a small flock of alpacas, boarding them at ranches in California, New Mexico, Oregon, Colorado and Washington state.

The purpose, they said, was to breed with different bloodlines to create animals with different colors, better stature, nicer temperament and smoother fiber.

``Every time we breed an animal, it's to improve the offspring,'' John Malkus said.

With day-to-day management of their computer company turned over to a small staff, the Malkuses spend their days tending to their flock of 30 alpacas. They feed and groom the animals and run the business side of the ranch with one or two hired hands.

Only 20,000 alpacas exist in the United States compared with the larger and far less valuable llamas, which number more than 200,000 nationwide.

John Malkus, 49, and his wife, 40, are planning their future on these curious and cuddly animals that were introduced in the United States from Chile, Peru and Bolivia in 1984.

``We were looking for something we could do during our retirement that would generate extra income,'' said John Malkus.

Stud-quality alpacas command as much as $50,000 each, while females draw up to $15,000, particularly if pregnant.

So far this year, the couple said they have sold 11 females for $12,000 to $15,000 each.

Furthermore, about eight pounds of fiber shorn from an alpaca each spring garners $500 to $800 from distributors for cottage industry seamstresses, who create two or three sweaters from the fiber that weighs less and is warmer than wool. ``Alpacas are naturally hypoallergenic,'' said Tina Malkus. ``It does not scratch. You can wear it directly on your skin, and it is very comfortable. It was a fiber that was reserved for Peruvian royalty (for) hundreds of years.''

But profits are not the only motive behind the breeding operation.

The Malkuses said they take great joy in nursing females through a minimum 330-day pregnancy and then watching the babies - called crias - develop into full-grown 140- to 160-pound females and 160- to 180-pound males.

``I have a personal connection with the animals,'' Tina Malkus said. ``I enjoy their company. When you're doing something you want to do - not because you have to - you can afford yourself the luxury of enjoying your work.''

Alpacas are known to travel in herds, with the dominant one serving as the shepherd of sorts, dictating when and where the rest gallop, take a grazing break or create a community dung pile.

``It's just instinctive for them to do that,'' John Malkus said.

The alpacas will be on display for Ventura County 4-H Club members and their families during the organization's annual small pet competition at the ranch Saturday.

Brandy Vernay, a 23-year-old Moorpark College student studying exotic animal training and management, said working part time for the Malkuses is most rewarding when she earns the trust of the initially reserved animals.

``The wild animals are definitely more of a challenge,'' she said. ``With alpacas, their instinct is to run away from you. When you can get them to comply, it's a big step. Knowing that they'll do things for you that they won't do for others is just satisfying.''

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3 Photos

PHOTO (1 -- color in Simi and Conejo edition only) Alpacas, young and old, herd together at the Somis breeding ranch owned by former Simi residents John and Tina Malkus.

(2 -- 3 -- color in Simi and Conejo edition only) John Malkus hugs Graciana, an older alpaca, above left, while Tina Malkus cuddles a 10-day-old alpaca at their ranch.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer