Science and camel’s milk production

Introduction

The most frequently asked question is “how much milk does a camel give, compared with a cow?” The answer is not always easy if one is not familiar with all the animals concerned, and misleading information in the past has often led to the conclusion that the camel has no role to play in modern farming. When writing about camel’s milk it is imperative to stress that the most important point is that “the camel is not a cow” and should not be compared with a cow. This communication concerns the one-humped camel, the dromedary (Camelus dromedaries) and not the two- humped camel, the Bactrian (Camelus bactrianus). Although they are both camels, the physiological adaptation is entirely different: dromedaries are adapted to hot arid lands, camels are adapted to cold, arid lands. The difference in environment affects the type of milk produced. It is important to ensure that the questioner understands that the milk production of a camel the one-humped desert species-takes on special significance in the drought-stricken, famine-rife areas of the world, where cows have difficulty in surviving, and camels let alone for producing milk (YAGIL, 1984). In consequence, often even meagre amounts of camel’s milk can make the difference between life and death. Camels were first domesticated come 3,000 years ago their milk (EPSTEIN, 1971) and for use as pack animals. However, their use as pack animals was discontinued after the end of the First World War when armies became mechanized, and pack animals fell into disrepute. Camels were then relegated to being “animals of primitive societies”. Publications by KNOESS (1977) and YAGIL (1982) were not convincing enough to warrant large-scale acceptance of the camel as a farm animal. The main reason for this was that the experts in large governmental organizations are more familiar with cows and find it difficult to accept that a “primitive” animal like the camel can be a good producer of milk, even better than cows and goats. This means that virtually nothing was done to utilize the milk production if camels, especially in the drought stricken lands where the milk could have played an important role in feeding children. So the “Great Drought of Africa” (1984) and the “Long Drought of Africa” (1990-1993) were palliative handled by the industrialised countries by flying, or shipping, food, which was often foreign to the palates of the local population and indigestible, by the children (Y UVAL, 1992). Camels, which are tylopodes and not ruminants, were virtually unaffected by drought. The only problems encountered by the camels were caused by a lack of salt and intestinal parasite infestation (personal observations). At an international conference of the Physiological Society held in Budapest in 1980, a paper was presented describing the scientific rational of the camels as a farm animal (YAGIL and ETZION,1980). The presentation was well accepted by the scientific community but still did not activate development of camel farms by the agricultural community. Slowly this has changed as more and more information has become available. The importance of this symposium in Mauritania will be to gather all available data on milk prod uction of camels to formulate a multi-national approach for disseminating the data. This present communication will present scientific data showing the importance of camel’s milk in arid lands especially in times of drought when other ruminants cannot survive. The communication stresses the need for academic involvement in camel farming. In orders to convince policy makers of the agricultural benefits of camels the following information is necessary: • Does the camels maintain lactation in times of drought? • Are there logistic problems associated with camel’s milk production? • What is required for maximal milk production? • What are the uses of camel’s milk?] • If camel’s milk is a usable product in modern society, why are nomads considered primitive