Production and Management of Camels
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Part – I Production and Management of Camels PRODUCTION AND MANAGEMENT OF CAMELS Bakht Baidar Khan Arshad Iqbal Muhammad Riaz Department of Livestock Management University of Agriculture Faisalabad 2003 Bakhat Baidar Khan, Arshad Iqbal and Muhammad Riaz University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. Part – I Production and Management of Camels PREFACE The camel, without exaggeration, is the most ignored among the domestic ruminants in Pakistan. This is as much true in terms of lack of efforts to improve its care and productivity as it is in terms of lack of any planned research on it. Had it been an unproductive and a useless animal, its population would have gradually diminished, but it is the other way round. Its population is steadily growing. On papers, its population is being shown as stagnating, but most probably it is not so. On the international scene, there seems now a growing awakening in respect of the camel. At places, it has been termed as a ‘food security animal’. In Pakistan too, some teaching institutions have taken an initiative and have incorporated “Camel Production” in their teaching courses. No doubt, it is a very timely step. Scientists from Germany, England, India, Australia and UAE have published books on camel. These are, of course, good books but as usual their prices are prohibitive for our students, extension workers and even for teachers. Moreover, these books contain a little information about camels in Pakistan. Therefore, an easy-to-understand book on ‘Production and Management of Camels’ using a question-answer format, has been compiled. This should provide ready-made answers to so many questions simmering in the minds of students, teachers, researchers and extension specialists. It embodies about 400 questions along with their answers. The book discusses the distribution of camels in different continents/countries, breeds and types of camels with cross reference to other species, nutritional physiology and reproductive management, the way camels adapt to hot arid environment, milk and meat production and work performance, practical management and training of camels, marketing, health care and some diseases, including valuable information on several other aspects. Camel breeds and camel raising practices in Pakistan have been adequately discussed. We feel great pleasure in acknowledging the hard work done by so many researchers/authors/editors, whose published information has been used, mostly as such, in compiling the book under reference. Their efforts have been amply acknowledged in the text/tables/figures etc. It was beyond our means to individually contact them in this regard. We are highly thankful to Akhter Saeed MD for providing us useful literature from abroad. We are equally thankful to Dr. Ghulam Muhammad, Chairman CMS, UAF, for his cooperation in providing pertinent literature. Ch Sikander Hayat and Nawaz Ahmed Sipra also deserve our heart-felt appreciation for helping us out of many problems pertinent to the publication of this book. No book has ever been claimed to be perfect in all respects and so is this one. The readers are requested to convey in writing their suggestions about omissions/shortcomings noticed in this book. Their suggestions would not go unnoticed. Bakht Baidar Khan Arshad Iqbal August, 2003 Muhammad Riaz FOREWORD For a long time the camel has been the victim of disregard and deliberate neglect of scientists and development workers. However, the last about two decades have witnessed a resurgence of interest in this species. Most of the work to exploit the productive potential of the camel has been undertaken by those who come from such countries that do not even possess camels. I think this should be more than enough to make us realize our responsibility towards a multipurpose domestic animal species, of which this country has a sizeable population. We need to investigate its peculiarities and exploit its potential especially in terms of milk and meat production and to explore the possibility of increased export of live camels to several Middle East countries. Presently some of these countries are importing camels from Australia. To strengthen the possibility of implementing such plans, we must be equipped with recent knowledge about various aspects of camels. In this connection and as an animal scientist myself, I feel pleasure to mention that a book with the title ‘Production and Management of Camels’ has been brought out by experienced teachers/researchers, which should suffice to meet the needs as mentioned above. The contents of this book make me believe that it should be as much helpful for students, teachers and research workers as for extension specialists. Dr Zaheer Ahmad Professor / Dean FAH, Univ. of Agri., Faisalabad. Bakhat Baidar Khan, Arshad Iqbal and Muhammad Riaz University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. Part – I Production and Management of Camels PART – I Part – I includes: Introduction Breeds and Types Feeding and Nutrition Breeding and Reproductive Management Productivity and Performance Bakhat Baidar Khan, Arshad Iqbal and Muhammad Riaz University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. Part – I Production and Management of Camels INTRODUCTION Q. Is the camel a monogastric or a polygastric animal? The camel is a polygastric animal, but not a true ruminant. True ruminants have four- compartment stomach, whereas there are three compartments in the camel stomach. Since after feeding, the camel also ruminates, therefore, it is called a special ruminant or sometimes as a pseudoruminant. Q. Write down the synonyms for the one-humped camel. The term Arabian camel and dromedary exactly mean the same as one-humped camel. Q. What is the probable origin of the word camel? The word camel is said to have been derived from the Greek word ‘Kremal’ or from the Sanskrit word ‘Kreluk’. The latter means ‘throw away legs’ and thus appears to make sense since a running camel seems as if it has thrown out its legs in the air with little control over them (Isani and Baloch, 2000). Q. On what basis the two-humped camel is named as Bactrian? Probably the name ‘Bactrian’ was derived from the word ‘Bactria’, the old name of the present day Turkmenistan in Central Asia. Q. Write a note on old world and new world camels. Old world camels belong to the genus Camelus. They are found in deserts/plains. They are bigger in body size and weight. They have either one or two humps. Those having two humps are mostly found in cold mountainous regions such as parts of Afghanistan, China and Mongolia. New world camels are placed in genus Lama. They are much smaller in size and body weight. They are found in areas located at much higher altitudes. They are humpless. Their habitat is by and large restricted to South America and are thus also called South American camels. Q. Do the llamoids have hump like that of dromedaries? Researchers believe that llamoids migrated to South America via North America and that probably they lost their humps during the course of evolution in South America. The modern one-humped camel is said to have evolved from the Bactrian camel. Some embryologists also support this idea on the basis that the dromedary has two humps in its embryonic stage, which are fused into one hump before birth. Q. What, in general, is the socio-economic importance of the dromedary? Precise data to assess the real socio-economic importance of the dromedary are not available. However, during the last about two decades, some academic and research institutions and international and national development agencies of a few countries have undertaken studies in this regard. Most of these studies have termed the camel as an animal of great socio-economic importance in large tracts of the third would. Two-thirds of the world’s camels are in Africa. Of these, over 5 million constitute a giant milking herd in Somalia and some bordering areas of neighbouring countries. Elsewhere many are still engaged in transport of salt, fuel wood, agricultural produce and household goods, and the rest are involved, sometimes with other animals, in the subsistence of both sedentary and nomadic human groups. Camels may still be seen being used in varying Bakhat Baidar Khan, Arshad Iqbal and Muhammad Riaz University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. Part – I Production and Management of Camels types of agricultural operations and drawing wheeled vehicles for intracity transport of goods in several areas of Indo-Pakistan subcontinent, including the streets of cities like Karachi, Multan and Faisalabad. In addition to power and transport, camels provide milk and meat not only in very arid regions but also in several urban areas in many countries. It has the ability to withstand the adverse effects of severe drought. Compared to small and large true ruminants, mortality rate in adult camels is very low in the event of drought conditions. It has been established that at least in the medium term, adoption of better camel husbandry practices can improve the life of African nomads who largely earn their living through camel raising. There are a lot of predictions in the air about increased global warming, the camel probably would be the most favoured animal in that scenario. In Australia, the Central Australian Camel Industry Association is currently studying the possibility of moderate to large scale meat production becoming a commercially viable enterprise. Production will be based initially on the large existing feral camel population. The market possibilities are for a local and export trade worth $A15 million by the year 2005 (Manefield and Tinson, 1997). In the wealthy Arabian Gulf states, notably UAE and Qatar, a thriving camel industry exists which is based on racing. The amount of money being turned over and the number of people involved many of them expatriates, justifies the use of the term ‘camel racing industry’. At important annual race meetings, it is not uncommon for the value of trophies, usually vehicles ranging from top of the range Mercedes, through Range Rovers to GMC pick ups, to be around US$3M.