🐪 Camels

Camels are large animals of deserts and steppes, one-humped and two-humped, that have long been milked. Dairy camels are the one-humped camel (dromedary) and the two-humped camel (Bactrian). According to an estimate cited by the FAO, there are about 18 million camels in the world, of which only about 2 million are Bactrians. Dromedaries live in the deserts of the Middle East, North and East Africa and South-West Asia, and have also gone feral in Australia; Bactrians live in the cold deserts and steppes of Central Asia, Mongolia and north-western China.

Camels are the main dairy animal where cows cannot survive. They go a long time without water, eat thorny shrubs and keep giving milk during droughts. According to the FAO, in 2006–2009 more than 87% of camel milk was produced in sub-Saharan Africa, and the largest producer was Somalia. Globally this is only about 0.3–0.4% of all milk.

Camel milk differs from cow’s milk in having no β-lactoglobulin, more protective proteins and a slightly salty taste. Camelids have a three-chambered stomach that works much like that of ruminants, which is why they are sometimes called “pseudo-ruminants”.