Camels

The camel is Rajasthan’s signature animal. India was once proud of the third largest camel population in the world, numbering well over a million. But over the last ten years, numbers have declined by around 50%, and there are now less than 500,000 camels in Rajasthan.

This development can largely be attributed to the disappearance of suitable grazing areas for camel breeding herds. The expansion of irrigation agriculture by means of bore wells and the Indira Gandhi Canal, as well as the establishment of wildlife sanctuaries, have eaten into prime camel pastures.

Most of the camel breeding is in the hands of the Raika, a community that earlier took care of the Maharajahs’ camel herds and is well known for its deep knowledge about this animal. The Raika are the original guardians of the camel in Rajasthan. They feel responsible for its welfare, and traditionally never sold female camels.

But because camel breeding is no longer profitable, the deeply ingrained social restrictions on selling female camels have now broken down. In 2003, many thousand female camels were sold at the Pushkar Fair to middlemen who took them to Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and even Bangladesh for slaughter. It is purported that camel meat is even exported from India to Arab countries.

The closure of the Kumbalgarh Sanctuary – a nature conservation area that corresponds to the ancestral summer grazing grounds for many Raika – has forced many families to sell their inherited herds on the camel meat market that has developed since 2002.

The rapid sell-off of female camels has grave implications for the sustainable utilization of Rajasthan’s arid lands and is a trend that can not be reversed quickly. It is therefore of urgent importance to address the following issues:

• Shrinking grazing resources are the most significant problem. Lack of feed undermines the nutritional status of camel herds, making them vulnerable to disease and undercutting reproductive rates.
• Lack of economic returns, low status and backward image of camel breeding.
• Lack of prophylactic camel health care.

LPPS is lobbying with the government on this issue by various means, including an 800 km long camel yatra (pilgrimage).

LPPS has also distributed superior-quality male stud camels for the purpose of breed improvement.

More information

	Workshop
	Conference
	Camel yatra