How to Save Rajasthan’s Camel Herds?
Herders' meeting and international conference, 18-25 November 2004
Sadri, Rajasthan, 17 November 2004
Traditional camel breeders from throughout Rajasthan have started
converging on Sadri, a small town located in Pali district, at the edge of the
Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary. They are coming to this remote place at the foot
of the Aravalli hills to talk about the many factors that have led to the rapid
decline of their camel herds.
In a three-day meeting they will compile and exchange information about
their respective situations and discuss the problem with scientists and policy
makers.
India was once proud of the third largest camel population in the world,
numbering well over a million. But over the last ten years, numbers have
declined by around 50% and there are now less than 500,000 camels in Rajasthan.
According to Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan (LPPS), an NGO
that has been working with Raika camel breeders since the early 1990s and is
organizing a series of activities to highlight the issue and identify possible
solutions, this development can largely be attributed to the disappearance of
suitable grazing areas for camel breeding herds. The expansion of irrigation
agriculture by means of bore wells and the Indira Gandhi Canal, as well as the
establishment of wildlife sanctuaries, have eaten into prime camel pastures.
"The closure of the Kumbalgarh Sanctuary, and probably other sanctuaries
as well, for grazing has forced Raika families to disband of their inherited
herds and sell them to traders taking them to Pushkar", says Hanwant Singh
Rathore, Director of LPPS.
The world-famous Pushkar camel market has traditionally
been the climax of the camel breeders’ year where the young male camels changed
hands between breeders and farmers or camel cart owners, and where the year’s
entire profits were realised. But in recent years, and in a stark break with
tradition, a large number of female camels are now also being sold at Pushkar -
for slaughter.
"The Raika, Rajasthan’s main camel breeding community, traditionally never
sold female camels" explains Dr. Ilse Koehler-Rollefson, a German veterinarian
with the League for Pastoral Peoples, and adds "Because camel
breeding is no longer profitable, the deeply ingrained social restrictions on
selling female camels have now broken down. Already in 2003, many thousands of
female camels were sold at the Pushkar Fair to middlemen who took them to Uttar
Pradesh, West Bengal, and even Bangladesh for slaughter. It is purported that
camel meat is even exported from India to Arab countries."
The only way of saving the camel is by making camel breeding a feasible
livelihood option.
"For camel breeding to remain attractive to the young generation, camel
grazing areas need to be reserved throughout the state", suggests Dr. Arun Srivastava, an ecologist from Bikaner,
and adds "this will also save the livelihoods of many poor people who depend on
ownership of a camel cart for their living. Furthermore it will contribute to
making Rajasthan more resilient to drought and less dependent on imported
diesel."
The three-day workshop on saving Rajasthan’s camel herds is supported by the
Ford Foundation. Its results will be presented at an international
camel conference that is supported by the Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations and will also be held in Sadri from
23-25th November.
Background to international conference
