The camel (C. dromedarius and C. bactrianus an ancient livestock species with modern productive qualities for an arid XXI century.

The camel (Camelus dromedarius and C. bactrianus) is an extremely important and charismatic livestock species in many arid areas of the world. Camels are used as packing animals and also as riding animals. However, the most important utilization of camels is as milking animals. For virtually all pastoral cultures the camel is the only livestock species capable to provide livelihood that is independent from the unpredictability of weather. The irregularity of rainfall patterns will become survival issue in the near future for many pastoral communities. Climate warming is not anymore far fetched hypothesis and the predictions are that large areas will be dramatically dry in the 21st century (1) and that many people that today are farmers will have to revert to livestock for their sustenance (2).To fully utilize the production capabilities of the camel all various ethnic groups have developed series of selection criteria and complex husbandry practices. The workshop will directly illustrate with multiple images and will verbally explain the following topics:Camel conformation: common body and udder conformation faults and congenital malformations.Camel husbandry: general management practices, restraining techniques, milking fostering and weaning methods.Common ethno-veterinary practices used with camels.1) Held, I. M. Delworth T. L., Lu, J., Findell J., K., and Knutson, T. R., 2005.Simulation of Sahel drought in the 20th and 21st centuries. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 102: 17891-17896.2) Jones, P. G., Thornton, P. K., 2008.Croppers to livestock keepers livelihood transitions to 2050 in Africa due to clamite change. Environmental Science Policy, 12(4): 427-437.