What Dwindling Camel Herds Mean for The World
Posted by Unknown in Africa, Camel, Cattle and Livestock, Herding, Meat Animal, Middle East, Milk, Nutrition on Sunday 27 January 2013
Stephanie Findlay
Staff Reporter
Our
insatiable appetite for camels is taking its toll. The population of
the humpy beast in the Middle East is rapidly declining, threatening
herds around the world.
The Problem: According
to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the stock of
meat-producing camels in Saudi Arabia, slaughtered yearly for the hajj
pilgrimage, has decreased 39 per cent, from 426,000 in 1997 to 260,000
today.
The
story is the same in Pakistan, where numbers are dropping because of
camel racing, a popular pastime. It’s believed the camel population
dropped 20 per cent between 1994 and 2004 in Asia.
Consider
the camel in Somalia, where it is a source of food (both meat and
milk), trade and transportation. Millions of them — an estimated 50 per
cent of the country’s total population — have died from the famine; yet
another reason for their declining numbers.
Meanwhile,
Australia has for years been culling its camels — a cruel consequence
of globalization. They were introduced to the arid outback in the 18th
century by British settlers but without any natural predators or
diseases, they have become an invasive species. Today, there are an
estimated 1.2 million feral camels living Down Under and the population
is expected to reach 2 million next year.
In
fact, Australia’s parliamentary secretary proposed a plan this summer
that would see accredited marksmen shoot the camels for carbon credits.
Apparently, the animals emit an infernal amount of methane and have been
identified a contributor of climate change.
Australia has also become a supplier of camels, selling them Saudi Arabia for meat.
The Impact: For
some, disappearing camels are a desert version of the canary in the
coal mine. As one Somali herder said to the BBC: “When they start to
die, then what chance have sheep, goats and cattle?” He might have added
humans. To date, some 80,000 Somalis have died from hunger and thirst
because of the famine.
The Hope:
Some parts of Somalia continue to enjoy high camel stocks. After a
livestock ban was lifted, Somali herders supplied some $250 million
worth of animals to Saudi Arabia for the hajj pilgrimage last month.
Provided
Somalis can work around burdensome rules imposed by the Al Qaeda-linked
Shabab militia, an organization that controls large parts of the
country, Saudi Arabia plans to double its imports of livestock from the
country by 2013.
Somalia
could also invest more money into its burgeoning camel dairy industry.
Currently, the country has a competitive advantage — it’s the world’s
largest distributor, supplying 850,000 tons of camel milk a year — and a
bigger market could be developed. (Camel’s milk is reportedly saltier
than that of a cow and much richer in vitamin C and B, iron, and
unsaturated fatty acids.)
This entry was posted on Sunday 27 January 2013 at 22:05 and is filed under Africa, Camel, Cattle and Livestock, Herding, Meat Animal, Middle East, Milk, Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response.
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