A list is being compiled of contact information for livestock, farm and fiber publications, web sites and outlets. One way the list will be used is to place camelid related articles in appropriate publications—a piece on using and caring for guardian llamas would be valuable for sheep and goat publications, for example, and a wide range of camelid fiber articles could be placed in various fiber magazines. The list would also be valuable for starting a dialog with other livestock and fiber industries. Shay Stratford, SSLA representative, volunteered to help compile data for the list. Send suggested publications and complete contact information to her at williesspiritfarm@verizon.net. 

Copies of the basic care brochure and the press packet agreed upon by Camelid Community 2008 attendees will be sent to llama and alpaca organizations when they are in final form. The contact list will continue to be updated and added to as it is used.

International Camelid Institute

The web site for the International Camelid Institute (ICI) has undergone a number of changes since Camelid Community 2007 in order to make it more user-friendly and useful. The area of the site that is visited most is the Consult Corner, and a number of new veterinarians have been added. The goal is to have at least two consultants available in each of the named categories so there will always be a consultant available to answer any question received within 24 hours of receipt. The most recent addition to the site is the Vets Only Forum, a password-protected area available to veterinarians for discussion of camelid health and welfare topics out of sight of the general public. A new internal search engine has been added that is capable of searching 1,000 pages on ICI’s site as well as the sites of any of ICI’s links.