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The Camel - A Short Communication on Classification and Attributes

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Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 1000289
J Fisheries Livest Prod, an open access journal
ISSN: 2332-2608
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ISSN: 2332-2608
Faraz et al., J Fisheries Livest Prod 2019, 7:1
DOI: 10.4172/2332-2608.1000289
Short Communication Open Access
Journal of Fisheries &
Livestock Production
*Corresponding author: Dr. Asim Faraz, Department of Livestock and Poultry
Production, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan,
Pakistan, Tel: 03006941006; E-mail: drasimfaraz@bzu.edu.pk
Received March 09, 2019; Accepted March 25, 2019; Published April 02, 2019
Citation: Faraz A, Waheed A, Mirza RH, Ishaq HM (2019) The Camel - A Short
Communication on Classication and Attributes. J Fisheries Livest Prod 7: 289. doi:
10.4172/2332-2608.1000289
Copyright: © 2019 Faraz A, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under
the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and
source are credited.
Keywords: Camel; Food; Environment; Desert; Attributes
Introduction
Classication of Camel
The word “Camel” has been derived from the Greek word
“Kremal” and Sanskrit word “Kreluk” which means throw away
legs that makes a sense of running camel as it throws its legs in
the air having a little control over them [1]. The term ‘Dromedary’
is derived from “Dromados” a Greek word which means “run” so
used for riding camels while the name ‘Bactrian’ refers to the area
“Bactria” of the North Afghanistan where this camel is thought to be
originated [2]. The one and two humped camels are known as “old
world camels” and they are classified in class (Mammalia), order
(Artiodactyla), sub-order (Tylopoda/Camelides), family Camelidae,
genus (Camelus dromedarius for one humped camel and Camelus
bactrianus for two humped camel). The llama (Lama glama), alpaca
(Lama pacos), guanaco (Lama guanicoe), vicuna (Vicugna vicugna)
are classified under “new world camels”.
e Camelidae family includes two subfamilies 1- Camelinae (old
world Camelids) and 2- Laminae (new world Camelids). e genus
Camelus has two species of camels. First is dromedary or Arabian
camel having single hump (Camelus dromedarius) which are widely
distributed in the Middle East, Pakistan, India and African hot arid
areas, while second is the Bactrian (Camelus bactrianus) having two
humps which are found in the parts of China and central Asia [3].
e dromedary or Arabian camels are found to be more numerous
than those of Bactrian camels and represents almost 95% of the
total population of genus Camelus. According to [4] generally very
little dierentiation has been there regarding specialized types in the
Camelids which are multi-purpose animals with the females used
primarily for milk production, the males mainly for meat production,
transportation or draught purpose and again both the sexes provide
meat as a tertiary product.
Attributes of Camel
e virtues of camel are very well extolled in the Holy Quran. It
is mentioned there that “Do they not look at the camel, how they are
made” [5]. A great Muslim scholar Hazrat Imam Razi (Rehmat Ullah
Alaih) quoted the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) and says
that all the utility traits which a man can expect from various animals,
those are found in one animal “Camel” (Figure 1).
Internationally there is a growing awareness in respect of camel as
it has been termed and considered as a “food security animal”. One
humped camel (Camelus dromedarius) seems very important in many
countries where used as food animal. Its ability to utilize rangeland in
marginal areas and to survive and produce well under hot and harsh
environment has been recognized greatly over the years [6-10]. Globally
camel enjoys a very unique ecological and socioeconomic status. It
has been giving services to the humans under highly marginalized
ecosystems and very harsh climatic conditions since ancient times [1].
e camel has numerous unique capabilities and characteristics as that
it can be ridden, loaded with baggage, milked, eaten, traded for goods,
harnessed to plough and used for other agricultural operations and
exhibited in the zoo [11].
Abstract
Camels have a fascinated mankind which are very well adapted to their native environment and can sustain life in
hot, harsh and hostile environments like deserts. The dromedary camel is a best source of milk and meat especially
for those areas where production performance of other animals is adversely affected by the harsh environmental
conditions. This is due to its unique physiological characteristics that enable to tolerate higher temperatures, solar
radiations, water scarcity, poor vegetation and rough topography. Camel has no competition with any domestic specie
regarding feed and performance. They are browsers, their tall as well as long neck and legs enable them to browse
efciently. And due to these specied attributes they can browse that feed material which is beyond the approach of
other livestock species. In fact camel has the ability to transfer those poor products into valuable food which can’t be
consumed by other livestock species. Camels are of great importance, their virtues should be given ample consideration
and it will denitely be an important addition to the food chain which will play its role in the food security of the world.
The Camel - A Short Communication on Classification and Attributes
Faraz A*, Waheed A, Mirza RH and Ishaq HM
Department of Livestock and Poultry Production, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan
Figure 1: Attributes of Camel.
Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 1000289
J Fisheries Livest Prod, an open access journal
ISSN: 2332-2608
Citation: Faraz A, Waheed A, Mirza RH, Ishaq HM (2019) The Camel - A Short Communication on Classication and Attributes. J Fisheries Livest
Prod 7: 289. doi: 10.4172/2332-2608.1000289
Page 2 of 3
production system where it is obtained from spent females and old
males those have become less eective in their primary functions of
providing milk, breeding and transportation [4]. However, if camels
are slaughtered at comparable age then evidences suggest that quality
and carcass characteristics of its meat are not so dierent from beef
[9,23]. In arid areas camels constitute the most important source of
meat [2,9]. Mostly they are raised under traditional management
systems as pastoralists are moving always in search of food and water
over large areas for their camels [43-45].
Conclusion
Camel is an indigenous genetic resource, it needs to be managed
and preserved properly. It plays an indispensible role in the pastoral
ecology. Dierent studies highlight its unique characteristics especially
under stress environment. To meet the rapidly growing demands of
exploding population, the strategic idea is to recognize the place of
camel in farm animals and to get increased output from this natural
genetic resource that have not been exploited yet.
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Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 1000289
J Fisheries Livest Prod, an open access journal
ISSN: 2332-2608
Citation: Faraz A, Waheed A, Mirza RH, Ishaq HM (2019) The Camel - A Short Communication on Classication and Attributes. J Fisheries Livest
Prod 7: 289. doi: 10.4172/2332-2608.1000289
Page 3 of 3
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