🐪 She-camel
Also known as: camel, dromedary, naqa, Camelus dromedarius
Deserts of the Middle East, Africa and Kazakhstan. Its milk is made into shubat.
Camels are milked in the deserts and semi-deserts of Africa and Asia, mostly by nomadic herders. According to the FAO, camel milk makes up only about 0.4% of world milk output, but in dry areas it can be the main source: in northern Kenya camels give far more milk than cows. The largest producers are Kenya, Somalia and Pakistan.
About 5 liters a day is considered a good yield; in Africa a lactation usually gives 1,000–2,700 liters. Yield peaks in the second or third month, and lactation lasts 8 to 18 months. The one-humped dromedary usually gives more milk than the two-humped Bactrian camel.
Camel milk is close to cow’s milk in fat, but it contains no beta-lactoglobulin and more vitamin C. It is drunk fresh or fermented: Central Asia makes shubat (chal among the Turkmen), East Africa suusac, and Sudan gariss.
How it connects to milk
🐪 She-camel → gives → 🥛 Milk
Links
- What milk it gives
- 🥛 Camel milk
- Its milk is used for
- 🍶 Shubat
- What it gives
- 🥛 Milk
- Feeds with milk
- 🍼 Camel calf
- Belongs to
- 🔬 Mammal
- Where it is milked
- 🌍 Central Asia, 🌍 Anatolia and the Middle East
- Which peoples keep it
- 🧑🤝🧑 Bedouin, 🧑🤝🧑 Turkmens, 🧑🤝🧑 Kazakhs
- Part of
- 🐪 Camels
Frequently asked questions
How much milk does a camel give per day?
On pasture usually about 5 liters; in the rainy season the yield is roughly double that of the dry season.
What is made from camel milk?
The fermented drinks shubat and chal, suusac and gariss; commercially, pasteurized milk, chocolate and soft cheeses.
How long does a camel give milk?
From 8 to 18 months after the calf is born.
Similar
🐫 Bactrian camel · 🐎 Mare · 🐕 Dog · 🦔 Hedgehog · 🦘 Kangaroo · 🐴 Jenny
Sources
- FAO — Dairy animals: Camels
- Faccia et al. Milk Products from Minor Dairy Species: A Review. Animals, 2020
- Preserving edible biodiversity through indigenous dairy emulsions (ghee, laban, fermented camel milk). Frontiers in Nutrition, 2025