South American camelids may come under severe heat stress under certain climatic conditions. The influence of different shearing methods (handclipped vs machine shorn) on radiated body heat was investigated. Infrared thermography was used to measure the infrared radiation at the boundary layer of the hair coat. Removal of fleece by hand shearing resulted in little increase in surface temperature, while totally shearing by machine caused an increase of about 23% (from 26.6°C to 32.8°C). However, a critical fibre length seems to be necessary to benefit from the insulation properties of the fibre and to prevent sunburn.