High up in the Peruvian Andes, above the tree-line, above even the bushline, above the last communities where it is still possible to grow potatoes and native cereals, but just below the snow and the craggy mountain peaks, live small communities of llama and alpaca and sheep herders. Their life revolves around their animals and it is to them that the principle religious festival of the year is devoted; to them and to the spiritual powers associated with their life, indeed with all life. The herders say that the animals have a spiritual origin which connects them both with a spirit world inside the earth and also with the stars in the heavens. The people say of themselves that they have been set on this earth to look after the animals, whose true masters or owners are of a spiritual nature. They see that in many parts of the Andes greed has led to the extermination of the llamas and alpacas and this causes them deep concern, for they believe that the world will exist just so long as there are alpacas and llamas living.