Warwick’s alpaca visits: wellbeing wonder or “publicity stunt“?

If there’s any animal that could be described as objectively adorable, it’s an alpaca. Adorned with oodles of bushy fur and large, lustrous eyes – there’s lots to love.

Britain’s universities have caught on. Edinburgh, Glasgow, and yes, the University of Warwick have all recently hosted alpaca visits, where students and staff have the opportunity to meet them up close. A smattering of them occurred on campus this year and last, being hosted by everyone from WMG (Warwick Manufacturing Group) to the History department.  

Your staff don’t want to pet an alpaca… they want safe jobs, fair pay… and their pension to be safe

Strathclyde UCU

These visits are couched as efforts to improve wellbeing, sometimes even being branded as ‘alpaca therapy’. Suffice to say, not all students have responded positively. In an article published by The Tab, a student described them as a “publicity stunt” glossing over the root causes of poor wellbeing at universities. James, a final-year Warwick student, argued that they reflected an approach that “prioritises appearances over student welfare”.

Students aren’t the only ones worried. After Warwick posted about one of its alpaca visits on X, it was slammed by branches of the UCU – a union representing university staff. Strathclyde UCU argued: “Your staff don’t want to pet an alpaca… they want safe jobs, fair pay… and their pension to be safe.” 

It was admittedly my favourite day in first year

Abigail, final-year Warwick student

However, it would be wrong to say the response to the alpaca visits has been all negative – even on the wellbeing front. Abigail, another final-year Warwick student, attended the visit hosted by the History department two years ago. Noting that it was “admittedly [her] favourite day in first year”, she argued they “offer a more modern alternative method of encouraging mental health conversations and emphasise that working on mental health and wellbeing doesn’t always have to be serious and formal.” 

So, are alpaca visits a wellbeing wonder or a publicity stunt? I’ll leave that to you to decide. It’s almost certain, however, that with these visits popping up at universities time and again, there’ll be more debate to come.