ABOUT JANE C. WHEELER ·

Jane Wheeler is Vice President for Research, CONOPA (Coordinadora de Investigaci ón y Desarrollo de Camélidos Sudamericanos), Lima, Perú. She holds degrees from American University, Cambridge University, and the University of Michigan, and completed postdoctoral studies at the University of Paris. For more than 30 years she has conducted broad based research on the South American camelids.

Resurrecting the Alpaca
In the first programme Peter joins the team in Peru where alpaca farming is crucial to the local economy. The once soft and luxurious alpaca hair has become degraded by years of over-breeding and the scientists' task is to identify the gene associated with the finest hair. Obtaining samples from the animals at high altitude and in unpredicatable weather is no easy matter though. Listen the Programme

Interview with Dr. Jane Wheeler
by Sue Wilde
“When I graduated, a Senior Fulbright-Hays Fellowship took me to Peru for what I thought would be a brief visit to look at llama and alpaca herding before returning to work in the Middle East. Obviously that did not happen and Peru and its camelids have been my life ever since.” ... Read more

Secrets Of The Alpaca Mummies
By Heather Pringle
In november 1533, Francisco Pizarro rode triumphantly into Cuzco, the royal capital of the Inca empire, and took stock of its storied treasures. With just 180 hardened soldiers of fortune at his command, the... Read more