Name a camel Zhusan, which means steppe wormwood! It will grow unpretentious and sturdy like this plant

Giant “ships of the desert” are recognized as a flamboyant attraction of the Astrakhan Oblast – the world’s tallest two-humped Bactrian camels of the Kalmykian breed. In this southern part of the Russian Federation there are more than 3500 of them. But only two farms in the region are engaged in the breeding of Bactrians – Aksaraysky municipal unitary agricultural enterprise and agro-industrial cooperative, cattle-breeding state farm called Rodina.  

A joint delegation of the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), led by their heads, Oleg Kobiakov and Vladimir Moshkalo, visited the Aksaraysky camel farm. The visit took place within the framework of the International Year of Camelids – 2024.

The FAO-UNEP team was warmly welcomed by Bibigul Zhumagulova, head of the Aksaraysky camel farm in Krasnoyarsk District, Astrakhan Oblast, a professional and expert in her field, veterinarian by training and experience. Currently, she has 1700 two-humped camels in several droves, each with 50-100 animals. The farm has more than 20 production points and is mainly engaged in livestock breeding, but also has its own hay fields and pastures, and produces fodder. The total value of animals “on the balance sheet” is 122 million roubles.

Despite such impressive figures, Aksaraysky, as the entire small camel breeding industry in the country, is experiencing serious difficulties.

First of all, they concern the exchange of breeding material and breeding animals, which essentially stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic and has not been restored. Contacts in this area have even been interrupted with neighbouring Kalmykia, Russia’s second most important camel breeding oasis.

“We have appealed to our colleagues in Ryazan, to the Institute of Horse Breeding,” said the head of the camel breeding farm. “We have heard that there were outstanding males there, who had a height of more than two metres between their humps, but the dwellers of Ryazan could not help either.”

Other major issues include succession, enhancement of the herdsmen staff, whose average age is close to 60. Small wages, hard work, hardships of life in the steppe and the declining prestige of the profession lead to the fact that children of camel herders move to the city and stay there.

This occupation is very traditional and hardly accepts innovations. Local herders tried to use GPS trackers not so long ago, because during the rut camels often scatter, especially the males. “But what is the use of this tool, considering that the signal coverage and communication here are very unstable, and there is little benefit from this expensive toy,” complained our hosts.

Another concern, Bibigul Zhumagulova said, is “finding a market for camel hair. The very procedure of shearing a camel is labour-intensive (it is not a sheep – you can put its head between your legs and shear it): it takes 5-7 workers to tie and put the “donor” of wool on the ground, and this “service” today costs 700 roubles, and for one kg of wool you can get five roubles, given that from each camel you can get no more than 5-6 kg of wool.

Just 3-4 years ago, residents of Aksaraysky used to deliver wool to factories in Volgograd and Nizhny Novgorod, collecting up to 10-12 tonnes in total. In return they received socks and blankets made of camel wool. However, low purchase prices have brought this practice to naught.”  

However, the Aksaraysky agricultural enterprise also specializes in breeding sheep of a meat-wool breed. “The wool is of high quality, it has a luster, sand does not linger in the wool, it is clean all the time,” explained Serekbai Khamzaev, chief zootechnician-breeder. “Merino wool is dirty, when you open a fleece, there is dirt. And here it is all clean. This is the unique result of painstaking selection over six decades.

Our interlocutors told us that camel breeding in general is a troublesome business. Not all cattle breeders, even experienced ones, know how to handle camels. There was a funny case, said Bibigul Zhumagulova: “They took our camel to the circus, and after a while they returned it to us with a complaint, saying that they had made a cage, but it grew so fast that it did not fit in it anymore... .”

But the Moscow Circus of Zapashny brothers constantly and willingly acquires Aksaray camels, as Astrakhan Bactrians are easy to train. But again it all comes down to personnel: out of 40 herders in the farm only five can train camels. Those who train camels are paid a “fee” of ten thousand roubles for a successful “pupil”. The criterion for completing the training is the clear execution of a few basic commands.

Kadyrbek Latypov knows everything about camels

Kadyrbek Latypov is a hereditary herdsman. His camel farm is part of the Aksaraysky agricultural enterprise. He owes his father the engagement in the camel breeding – an occupation that is akin to art – which his father dedicated 42 years of his life to. The Latypov clan remains faithful to the difficult work: his younger brother works alongside Kadyrbek, and recently his nephew took a drove of 50 camels.The most important thing in this business, says Kadyrbek, is to accustom the camels to you and get used to them: “You have to learn to understand and distinguish camels. They have different personalities. Some are calm, others are fast and capricious.”

Particular care should be taken during the foaling time, when a colt is being bred. This is the culmination of a long process, as the camel carries its offspring for 14 months. If the foaling lasts longer than two hours, a veterinarian must be called.

“When a colt is born, it is best not to approach its mother,” explains the experienced herdsman. “It will perceive it as a threat to its baby and may bite or kick.”

Camels can defend themselves if they are attacked by wolves. Strange as it might seem, their spitting serves as an effective means of self-defense. The predator can be so stunned that the camels, using “collective self-defense”, can trample the aggressor with their calloused feet or force it to flee.

In the past, when there was a steady market demand, Kadyrbek used to shear his pets. He received 5-6 kilograms from each artiodactyle.

It is known, however, that some particular Astrakhan camels produced up to nine kilograms of wool per year. This is a valuable product: camel wool contains up to 85% of down hair, has excellent heat-insulating properties, does not electrify. And clothes and blankets made of such raw material instantly remove excess moisture from the body.

For city dwellers, the camels in this nomad camp look the same. But in practice, Kadyrbek and his assistants can tell them all apart, they even know which mother gave birth to which colt.

By custom, Kadyrbek adds, only male camels are given names. The most common name is Zhusan, which translates as “steppe wormwood”. It is believed that the owner of such a name will be strong, sturdy and hardy, like this unpretentious desert graminaceous plant.

Saying goodbye to Kadyrbek and his hospitable family and watching the camel camp melting away in the distance, I remembered Arabic parting words: “Good health to your herd, and may the camel of good luck lead you through the desert sands!”

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This field visit was the first “off-site” event of the FAO Moscow office and its UNEP colleagues in the framework of the International Year of the Camelids – 2024 in the Russian Federation. During this year, we will try to draw attention to the needs of the industry and the concerns of people for whom camels, beautiful and ancient animals, are not only a source of livelihood, but also part of their traditional and centuries-old way of life.

BACKGROUND

The UN has proclaimed 2024 as the International Year of the Camelids (IYC 2024). Camelids are the main source of livelihood for millions of households living in disadvantaged conditions in more than 90 countries, especially for Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

Camelids play an important role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to ending hunger, eradicating extreme poverty, empowering women and ensuring sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems.

Camelids not only provide milk, meat, wool and organic fertilizers to communities, but are also used as beasts of burden to transport people and goods. They do well where other livestock species cannot survive.

The goal of the International Year of the Camelids – 2024 is to raise awareness of the untapped potential of camelids and call for increased investment in camel breeding by advocating increased research, capacity development and the use of innovative methods and technologies.

In the Russian Federation, the total breeding population of camels (not counting animals in zoos and circuses) is just over 5000, of which about 3500 are in the Astrakhan region and about 2000 are in the bordering Republic of Kalmykia. All of them are Kalmyk Bactrians. The tradition of camel breeding in these places goes back thousands of years.