Camel jam on a winter's day in Al Saad

It was a camel jam at Al Saad that precipitated this blog. Al Saad is a featureless town off the highway that connects Abu Dhabi and Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates. Drivers of vehicles at the waiting place near the roundabout the other day were treated to the sight of a small herd of camels being driven across the overpass, creating a back log of traffic onto the highway.
The animals plodded slowly down towards the roundabout and then streamed across a paddock on the outskirts of town with all the indifference of creatures who have served mankind well for more than 3,000 years*.
Camels, as everyone probably knows are divided into two main groups – dromedaries (one humped)and bactrian (two humped)camels. There is no space here to discuss their cousins - the lamas, alpacas, guanacos and vicunas. These migrated to South America millennia ago when the larger camelidae family abandoned North America for Asia and Africa via that famous long gone land bridge between the continents. Dromedaries are spotlighted here today. Of bactrian camels more will be revealed another day.

There are no wild dromedaries (camels as they will be referred to from now on) anywhere in the world except Australia. The 3.3 million square kilometres of semi-arid desert of this country are home to almost a million wild camels. Even in Somalia which claims one quarter (2 million) of the world’s camels, all are domesticated.

Camels still provide wool for clothing and shelter, bones for carved utensils, leather, milk, meat and transport for a large number of people.

Any visitor to India will still see camels pulling carts through the narrow streets of towns throughout the country.

It was this species that carted equipment to build Australia’s overland Telegraph line; to develop bores and wells and lay tracks for ‘The Ghan’ rail line.

Camels still provide an income for many Australians.
Central Australia was settled and developed on the back of the camel. For over half a century in the late 1800s and early 1900s Australia imported a range of breeds of camel from India, Pakistan, Oman, and various parts of Africa and Arabia. The Bishari riding camel, the Bikaneri war camel from Rajasthan, the Khandarhari freight camel are a few examples of the variety imported.

With them came cameleers from the same range of places. These men were the “Afghans” of Central Australia. They had little in common but their trade and their religion. They were Australia’s first Muslim settlers. Australia’s first permanent mosque was built at Heggot Springs on a crossroads for camel trains in the desert in northern South Australia in the 1860s.
Many cameleers stayed on in Australia, established families and businesses, grew rich (or poor) and became part of the the melting pot of Australian history. Others returned to their country of origin.

But it is the Middle East where camel breeding has reached dizzy heights. In April, 2009 the Camel Reproduction Centre in Dubai announced the birth of a cloned camel, as part of an ongoing programme to preserve the genetics of its racing and milk producing camels.

A visit to the Al Ain camel market is a worthwhile trip for any visitor to the UAE. Here camels from all parts of the Middle East, Africa and the sub continent (mostly Pakistan) are traded every day. There are the dark coated Saudi camels, camels for meat, milk and breeding. The ‘camel boys’ who also come from the same countries as their charges could well be descendants of those cameleers who returned to their home country after establishing the industry a world away over a hundred years ago.

Anyone who has seen four young camels being loaded into the back of a ute can testify to their extraordinary vocal range. Roaring, bellowing, grumbling, grunting and bleating they are hobbled then secured by a complicated series of rope knots. The ute pulls away from the markets and the animals then settle into passively regarding the passing landcape and chewing their cud.

Most of the camels that pass through the markets are destined for the abattoirs, but some are dairy camels and a privileged few are sold as breeding stock for the lucrative and once controversial camel racing industry. Today in the UAE children are no longer used as camel jockeys. Electronic whips with built in sensors are mounted on the backs of racing camels and operated remotely by the camel’s owner or trainer during the race.

Today camels play a large part in the tourism industry in the dry places of the earth. The writer has ridden camels in Australia, the Middle East and India.

The camel has a rolling gait that many people find more comfortable than the gait of a horse. The camel is a calmer animal than a horse, less likely to shy, as its only natural predator, other than man, is the tiger.
However the camel is also more likely to buck for no good reason. A camel can carry a greater weight in hot, dry conditions than a horse, but is less predictable and can be downright contrary if not trained by a very experienced cameleer.

A tip for those readers contemplating an extended camel trip. The Australians make the best and most comfortable camel saddles.

As the camels and cameleers made their way past Al Saad, they provided a snapshot from the past – men and beasts have changed little over the centuries. Except now the herd was followed by utes carrying fodder and water troughs.

Observer
longline8.blogspot.com
Ref: * Mansfield, Peter, "A History of the Middle East", Penguin, London, 2003, 2nd Edition.