Camel Rides & Racing
Have you seen Animal Liberation's Australian first exposé, 'Breaking the camel's back'? You can learn more about the investigation and take action for camels here.
Dromedary camels are interesting and deeply misunderstood creatures. They are naturally found roaming through Africa and Asia. In the 1840s camels were introduced into Australia, and have since established a prominent wild herd. With the cruelty associated with elephant rides coming to light in recent years, camel rides are interestingly not receiving the same attention - yet, the intelligence of camels is similar to that of elephants. This article explores the use of camels in the Australian tourism industry and the welfare issues it presents to the animals.
About Camels
Sadly, there has been minimal research into camels, their personalities and intelligence, leading to a disconnect in how we perceive them. Robyn Davidson, who spent months travelling the Australian dessert with four camels in the 1970s, has shared her insights into these wonderful creatures in her book, Tracks.
They are intelligent and emotional animals
Camels are often presented as grumpy and temperamental creatures, when in reality, they are just misunderstood. Camels are smart and have shown to have the intellect and emotional intelligence of an eight year old child [1, 2]. Both Bactrian and Dromedary camels have an encephalization quotient (EQ) value of 1.3, which is a similar level to the intelligence of the African elephant, and greater than that of the horse [3].
Robyn describes camels as “affectionate, cheeky, playful, witty, self-possessed, patient, hard-working and endlessly interesting and charming.” She noted that they also have “delicate” hearts and are highly sensitive [2].
Camels travel great distances
In the wild, camels like to stay together in herds, led by a dominate male. The remaining males form “bachelor herds”. Being nomadic animals, they spread themselves over hundreds of kilometres and can travel up to 160km in a day. They enjoy exploring their environment and socialising with other individuals [4]. Studies have found that while they roam and feed during the day, wild dromedaries rest during the hottest hours - around noon [5].
Camels can live long lives
Camels can live for 40-50 years [6]!
The Industry
Camels are used as a tourist attraction in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, China, Kenya, Dubai, Tanzania, and Australia. In all of these countries, there are little to no animal welfare laws or standards.
Camels in Australia
Approximately 20,000 camels were introduced to Australia between 1840 and 1907, for riding, the transportation of goods, and as draught animals (used to draw load like a plough) in the early development of arid areas. As they naturally live in arid environments and require less water, they were seen as a more suitable option than horses. When they were no longer needed, due to the increase in motor transport, people set them free. Since then, they have established a stable wild population [7 PDF]. Soon after, they were classified as a feral ‘pest’ species.
The estimated number of camels in Australia today ranges drastically from 300,000 [8] to over 1 million [7 PDF]. While few efforts have been taken to establish a more accurate count, the latter figure has driven the push for mass culls. Others saw this as an opportunity to exploit the camels, trapping and sending them to slaughter, using them in dairies for camel milk, or for rides and even racing.
Interestingly, camels are classified as a ‘pest’ due to the so-called damage they do to the environment. The impact of the estimated 1 million grazing camels, however, would be significantly less than that of the 25 million cattle and 63.7 million sheep in Australia. These farmed animals were not only introduced, but are continuously being bred, relying on cleared agricultural land and large amounts of water and resources. To learn more about these industries, read our articles on Cattle Farming and Sheep Farming.
All ferals show resilience, intelligence, self-organization, and a capacity to evade human captivity—all of the things that contradict a belief that livestock exist only to serve us, obey us. Going feral, they remind us that animals are neither machines, nor docile objects, but thinking, escaping, beings, and as such they help us to define the injustice of farming a little better. Perhaps this is why they are so hated; they are an uncomfortable reminder that animals are not “happy meat.”
Fiona Probyn-Rapsey [9 PDF]
Types of Use
Rides
Across Australia, camels are used as a tourist attraction. Ride times can vary from 5 minutes each, where camels are forced to walk around in a circle for hours at a time, to 1-2 hour tours.
Camel Racing
In addition to riding, camels are also forced to race with up to 18 others around a “U” shaped 1,500m track with a jockey on their back [10].
Standards and Welfare Issues
The following information will focus on the Australian camel tourism industry. As camels are considered a pest in Australia, there are no legal standards for their welfare.
Trapping Camels
The catching, handling, and transport of camels is incredibly stressful for the individuals, as they have been wild for many generations. The close contact with humans can cause acute lameness, damage to tendons, ligaments, and bones, bruising, fighting due to mixing groups, infections, feeding disruptions, and abortions in pregnant females [11].
Camels on trapping station.
Credit: Aileron Pastoral Holdings
Training
Camels are naturally very timid creatures and rather than “fight” or “flight”, they will typically freeze when scared or threatened. Once captured, the wild camels must undergo weeks to months of training, which ultimately breaks their spirits and allows them to be controlled by the workers. They must learn, for example, to stay laying down so that people can climb onto them, stand with heavy weights on their backs, walk in a line, and obey human commands.
Nose Pegs
As camels are large animals, people desired a way to have more control over them. To achieve this, a hole is punctured into their nose and a wooden or plastic peg is inserted with a rope attached to it. This way, if the camel becomes “unruly”, tugging on the nose peg and the pain it causes will force the camel to comply [12].
Camel nose peg with rope.
Credit: Luido Kuipers
Castration
Males are castrated when they are sub-adult or an adult and not on calves. This does not have to be performed with anaesthetic and is incredibly painful for the animals [13].
Carrying heavy loads
While camels are strong animals, it does not mean they should be exploited by being loaded up with heavy objects. Camels can be forced to carry two people at a time as well as the heavy saddle. Australian standards allow camels to carry up to 300kg at a time [14].
Multiple Rides, Tours, or Races
The camels at varying facilities are often made to do multiple tours and rides every day, up to 7 days a week. In some cases, their saddles are not taken off for the entire day. As mentioned earlier, wild camels would rest during the hottest time of the day, however, in captivity they are forced to carry people during this time.
During loading, camels are often very vocal, showing their distressed with the situation. While workers try to pass this off as them being ‘lazy’, it is evident that they do not want to be there.
What can you do?
As consumers, we hold the power to end the suffering of animals in the camel ride and racing industries. Without our money, these facilities, events, and activities would simply cease to exist, freeing these wild animals from capture, training, and a lifetime of misery.