Bochum.
Four alpaca men live in Bochum on the city limits of Herne. Starting next summer, the owners want to offer various alpaca experiences.
One after the other they trudge through the green grass: Jon Snow runs ahead, followed by Oskar, Eladio and Rémy. The four young alpaca men have been living with Nora and Dominik König in Bochum-Hiltrop since April of this year. Starting next summer, the two would like to offer alpaca experiences on weekends.
“I’m a huge animal fan, I had long horses,” says Nora König (32), who lives on the outskirts of Herne near Gysenbergpark. When she lived in Frankfurt, she took part in a wine hike with alpacas with a friend and decided: “If we go back to Bochum, I want to have alpacas too.”
Alpacas have been living in Bochum-Hiltrop near Herne for some time
Said and done. The four young animals now live on the large lawn that belongs to the farm, which has been in the family for 300 years. Three of them are two and a half years old, one a year younger.
However, it took some time for that to happen, because Nora König and her husband Dominik have a lot of work to do. The idea came up more than three years ago, and they worked on the implementation for a year and a half. The pasture had to be fenced in and a lot had to be prepared for the animals.
Nora König has attended courses and online seminars and has become a member of an association for alpacas and llamas. During this time she has acquired a lot of specialist knowledge and knows exactly what is important when it comes to species-appropriate husbandry.
3500 square meters of space for four alpacas
The alpacas have about 3,500 square meters there – and therefore a lot of space on which they can eat grass. “For two animals, 1000 square meters are prescribed, for each additional 100,” she explains. In addition, alpacas are herd animals, you should keep at least three of them.
Three of the animals that now live in Hiltrop come from a farm in Castrop, Nora König gets along well with the owner. Jon Schnee, Eladio and Rémy are half brothers, Oskar comes from another farm. “They like to sniff, but the alpacas don’t like to be petted,” explains Nora König, while she leads the four animals by halter and leash from the pasture to a large meadow on the opposite side. “In winter we graze with them where it’s lush,” she says.
Nora König is currently training the four animals – very calmly, at the pace that is right for them. “From around mid-2023, I would like to offer alpaca experiences such as picnics in the pasture, walks in the Gysenberg, bachelor parties or photo shoots for small groups on weekends, individually tailored,” she throws a glimpse into the future.
When exactly the offer will start, she cannot say yet: “When the animals are ready,” says the 32-year-old. Because one thing – which she repeatedly emphasizes on this day – is very important to her: the focus is on animal welfare. There should be a maximum of two or three events per weekend, for example, during walks, the alpacas always decide how long they want to walk.
The fact that the alpacas now live with the king is primarily due to Nora’s dream. At the same time, she is also happy to be able to make others happy on a small scale. Incidentally, part-time – she works full-time in the office. Spending time with the animals is a great balance for her, before work, after work or at the weekend, supported by her husband.
Alpacas only tolerate certain foods
Especially at the beginning, the animals in the neighborhood caused quite a stir. When neighbors or pedestrians look, Nora König is happy. But it is important to her that the alpacas are not fed – they are very sensitive when it comes to food and tolerate grass, hay and a special mineral feed in particular. This is also indicated by signs hanging on the pasture.
Nora König has one request: those who are interested shouldn’t just drop in on her unannounced. Instead, through their Instagram account, they can: www.instagram.com/koenigs_alpakas (external link) and soon also via the homepage as soon as she and her husband offer the alpaca tours in the coming year.
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