Category: Camel Breed

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Camel Breed Camel in Middle East and Africa camel milk Camel Milk and Natural Health Camel milk demand in Africa

Camel Milk or Honey?

A herd of lactating camels grazing on cactus plants in Jigjiga
A herd of lactating camels grazing on cactus plants in Jigjiga

I visited camel pastoralists in the Somali Region of Ethiopia (SRE), mainly Jigjiga and found very interesting and new facts about camels and pastoralism.

Author is happily accepting the camel milk to drink, fresh and sweet like honey.
A Hur lactating camel in Jigjiga region of Ethiopia
Camel eating the thorney and bitter taste flora, Cactus

A very amazing piece of information about the camel population in the region is that there are 6.5 million camels in SRE. Please tell me your views in this regard. The total camel population in Ethiopia is more than 8 million. (as per oral information provided by Pastoral Bureau)

The other fact I found personally, is the taste of the milk of the Hoor or Hur camel breed in the the region. It was very strange for me as I have visited many different camel herding communities globally and tasted the milk of many camel types (Dromedary and Bactrian) but never found the taste like it was in the region. I drank camel milk in Jigjiga, and believe me the taste was like the taste of honey. The milk was acquired from the naturally grazing camels. There is a wide floral diversity and the camels consume it regularly while grazing/browsing in the rangelands.

A lactating camel of Hur breed, Jigjiga region Ethiopia

When I shared this information in the Camel4Life International (camel advocacy forum) WhatsApp group, many cameleers from different parts of the world responded with their experience of the camel milk taste. https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/health/al-ain-doctor-sees-potential-in-camels-beyond-their-milk-1.51957
I can easily imagine! Our milk also can be very sweet (Ilse Kohler Rollefson, a German camel lover residing in Rajasthan with the camel herds). Dr Piers (camel owner and PhD in camel production from Kenya) responded as;

“My milk in Kenya does too, almost like coconut milk sweet. I am sure that the sweet flavour is the natural flavour of all free-ranging camels that have the liberty to choose what and how much they want to eat. Depending on the natural plants and ecology it can be salty, or sometimes very bitter if they eat flowering Vernonia shrubs for example. It’s like natural honey from bees, the flavour depends on the plants. Someone should open a shop selling all the different flavours of natural camel milk over the different seasons globally.

For further good reading about the incredible camels and my camel advocacy work, CLICK THE LINKS
Global Camel Research and Development Network (GCRDN)

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Camel Breed Dairy camels breed General about camel

Khawara camel breed of Arabian Peninsula

Author with a Dhofari camel in Salalah
Author with a Dhofari camel in Salalah Oman

Philosophical Note

Dhofar is centric on the frankness trade and history of the region. Almost 60% of the Omani camels are inhibited in the Dhofar region which is predominantly comprised of the Dhofari or Khawar breed followed by MAHALI (a thorough crossbred of Khawar, Majaheem, and Brela). Such a combination is also called a MUHAJAN or Majajan. Khawara is resistant to mange (to a high level), beautiful in color, docile, and a good milch breed. A rich color diversity, having dark brown, light brown, fawn, reddish, white, and creamy red colors, color diversity comes with the diversity of landscapes and ecosystems. With a medium-sized head, the breed has a deer’s mouth (Their lower lip is not hanging like other fellows of the desert). They have a medium head with a medium-sized neck and ears.

Like other camel fellows, Khawarah is a multipurpose animal, performing many tasks for their owners but milk production tops the other features in the Khawarah camels. There are some very important arguments proving it is a fashoosh camel. Fashoosh means a friendly camel with highly desirable teats and udder with very easy milking.

https://arkbiodiv.com/2017/12/19/easy-and-fast-vs-the-difficult-and-slow-milking-camelsthe-arabs-traditional-knowledge/
Selection of dairy camels for milking-ability in machine

Habitat of Khawara or Dhofari camel breed

Mostly found in the Southeastern Arabian Peninsula. True specimens of the breeds are found in the Dhofar region, especially Salalah. The nucleus herds of the breed with purity are found in the mountainous region of Salalah, where they can browse on good woody vegetation of combtree (anogeissus dhofarica), Acacia, and other trees and shrubs.

Khawar is one of the dairy queens

Based on my personal long experience with dairy camels, our best high-yielding and easy-milking camels are mainly from the Khawarah breed. I have been working with the world’s most modern and pioneer camel dairy in the world. They have medium-sized teats with strongly attached but deep udder. The teats are conical in shape and very well fit for the machine milking. They have very good milking ability and shorter actual milking time (AMT) in the machine milking because of their behavior and well-fit teat size.

Author with a Dhofari camel in Salalah
Author with a Dhofari camel in Salalah Oman

The cameleers have maintained the pure genetic line of the breed and they have strong oral and traditional knowledge about the genealogy and husbandry of the breed. Here you can find the best specimens of the breeds with a promising yield of milk up to 35 kg/day.

https://arkbiodiv.com/2022/04/15/the-camel-dairy-queen-khawar-breed-of-salalah-oman/
The dairy queen, Khawarah camel of Dhofar region
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Camel and Nature Connection Camel Breed Camel in Middle East and Africa Climate Change Adaptation

The Secret Power is in the Camels’ Genes

Dr. Raziq with the Dairy Camels

The drive behind the camel domestication was a set of goals to achieve through this incredible animal, the camel; an animal that can produce food in a challenging scenario. These challenges were comprised of bad weathering, scarcity of food & water, and long traveling for different purposes.

Camels relying on the driedout bushes in the desert. Photo credit Haris Kakar

The wise cameleers selected the incredible camel to achieve this set of tasks to ensure food security and livelihood in the world’s driest landscapes. The secrets of the potential both as qualitative and quantitive traits are treasured in their genes. The camel can play a very multi-dimensional role for the betterment of the human being and Mother Earth. Camel4life international is an advocacy forum promoting camel at the global level to convince the policymakers and other stakeholders to use the camels as an agent for development and food security. https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/science/effect-of-camel-milk-against-cancer-tested-in-regional-study-1.874484

Some days before I and Dr. Ulri were interviewed by Daniel Bardsley and published in the National Newspaper of the UAE. Here is the link to the interview in the following. https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/environment/it-s-in-their-genes-saudi-study-seeks-to-analyse-how-camels-cope-with-extreme-temperatures-1.1140431

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Camel Breed Camel in India and Pakistan General about camel

My Personal Beautiful Camels~ White Kohi

Balochistan is home to different and multipurpose camel breeds, productive and beautiful. I love all types of camels but the white Kohi breed is very close to my heart.
Kohi camel is found in northeastern Balochistan. It produces up to 10 kg of milk per day with a lactation length of 8 months. I have a few Kohi camels back in Balochistan, they are special and unique.
you can find some beautiful camels below.

She is pregnant at 9 months. We hope she will give birth to a very beautiful white calf.
Beautiful male calf of 9 months age.
Male calf of 9 months of age. He will be the boss of the herd after 3 years.
She is 9 years old, and the mom of a beautiful white calf. She will be conceived in the month of March next year

In a live video message, I appealed to the people in Balochistan to come back to the camel culture. Keep the camel instead of an exotic cow for milk. It has many benefits both for the environment and the expenses.

You can read further about the White Kohi camel breed in the following links. The Kohi means mountainous, this is a mountainous breed and is found in the Suleiman region of Balochistan Pakistan.

Mangrota camel fair
https://arkbiodiv.com/2012/01/04/kohi-camel-breed-of-suleiman-mountainous-region