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Analysis of the results of ophthalmic examinations of 29 alpacas (Lama pacos) revealed a direct relationship among coat color, iris color, and ocular fundus pigmentation. Alpacas with light-pigmented coats had iris color that included combinations of gray, blue, and brown, and had reduced pigmentation of the ocular fundi. Alpacas with dark coats had brown irides and pigmented ocular fundi. Eleven alpacas had evidence of ophthalmic conditions, including bilateral conjunctivitis (1); formation of a superficial corneal scar (1); formation of posterior synechiae and anterior cataracts (4); development of a deep corneal scar with anterior synechiae, buphthalmia, a subluxated lens, and cataracts (1); development of focal incipient primary cataracts (2); formation of vitreous opacities (1); and development of a unilateral optic nerve coloboma (1).

Objectives: This study sought to investigate numerous reports emanating from Punta Arenas, Chile (population 110,000, latitude 53 degrees S), that associated acute ocular and dermatologic disease in humans and animals with excess ultraviolet-B (UV-B) exposure in the setting of the thinning of the ozone column., Methods: Ophthalmologic and dermatologic records in Punta Arenas were systematically reviewed to enumerate sentinel diagnoses potentially associated with UV-B exposure, ocular examinations on representative animal populations were performed, and the ambient UV-B exposure in the region during the time of maximal thinning was estimated., Results: No increase in patient visits or conditions attributable to UV-B exposure was seen for periods of known ozone depletion compared with control periods. Although ambient UV-B exposure was 1.6 to 2.3 times the habitual exposure on individual days, this excess exposure conferred only a 1% increase in annual exposure on the region., Conclusion: This study does not support existing lay reports of ocular and dermatologic disease in humans and animals that had been associated with the ozone hole over southern Chile.