The Geel Thread

[Waaberi]

the Dromedary Camel is integral to Somali Culture. nomadic culture has a profound influence on the consciousness of somalis. our ancestors lives revolve around camel, caring for them protecting and sustaining ourselves on them. Camels are in our poetry, blood money is paid in camels and marriage contracts are pegged to price of Camels so indeed somalia are attached to their camels, however Somalis are moving into cities and Urbanization will shrinking the Nomads in the countryside. if we are to preserve our culture and bring it to the 21 century than we need to rethink our connect to the Camel.

[Constantine MMX]

Waaberi, another member, named Daahir, already made a similar topic: see here

[Waaberi]

Commercial Camel Milk Production

Somalia has 50% of the world Dromedary Camel Population if you add the Camel population in Somali inhabited regions in Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti that number goes to 2/3 of the world Camel population. we should follow UAE and encourage commercial Camel Milk production in Somalia. the animals would be kept, feed, milk on location which would improve quality control since a farm would control the nutrition and veterinary care of the Camel and the milking would be mechanized. Commercial Camel Milk production would be a niche market and be a big earn of funds for the country. people often assume America economy is mostly industries and Services but agri-businesses net the U.S government with billion of dollars every year who says it couldn't do the same for Somalia.

Al Ain Dairy continues its development of new products with the launch of a complete new range of fresh camel milk flavored drinks in six delicious and nutritious flavors under the hugely successful "Camelait" brand.

The six new flavors that have hit supermarket shelves today heralds the beginning of the dairy's ramping up of its entire product portfolio with the company planning to offer an expanding portfolio of products made with fresh camel milk.

Al Ain Dairy's "Camelait' range of camel milk drinks are made with 100% pure fresh pasteurized camel milk, contains less than 2% fat , contains natural fruit sugars and has absolutely no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. The six new flavors are date, cardamom, rose, chocolate, saffron and laban so there are flavors for everyone to enjoy.

Camel milk has recently seen an unprecedented surge in popularity with more and more people discovering the health benefits that nutrient rich camel milk delivers. Camel milk is easily digested by lactose intolerant individuals, is rich in Vitamin B and D and has 10 times more iron than cow's milk.. The lactoferrin contained in camel milk also has anti-bacterial and antiviral properties and is known to have anti diabetic actions too. It contains a high presence of insulin type proteins and other nutrients that positively affects the immune system. It is no surprise therefore that camel milk is now often described as a "superfood".

Shashi Menon, COO of Al Ain Dairy said "Camel milk has for some time been considered an acquired taste, we wanted to challenge that perception by bringing not only popular flavors but innovative ones too so that everyone will enjoy trying. Camel milk is for everyone and is not just for novelty value. Camel milk has been rising in popularity at an astonishing rate with more and more people discovering the associated benefits to health of the nutrient rich white stuff. We have been working to develop a whole range of camel milk products to satisfy the voracious demand of the market. We are absolutely thrilled to add to our very successful "Camelait" brand with these 6 delicious new favors that everyone will enjoy."

Al Ain Dairy's "Camelait" brand is made from 100% fresh camel milk and is available in handy 250 ml pet bottles. "Camelait" can be found in all good supermarkets and convenience stores across the UAE while the 6 new flavors are available currently in all ADNOC C stores, Abu Dhabi Coop and Khalifa City Coop as well as the Al Ain Dairy Fresh Farm Shop in Al Ain with more locations coming soon.

[Waaberi]

Originally Posted by Constantine MMX

Waaberi, another member, named Daahir, already made a similar topic: see here

Thanks Constantine, but i am not just show casing Xoolaha Somalia but also technology and it application as well as other innovation that Somalia forumers may not have heard about.

[Constantine MMX]

Continue, its very interesting.

[Waaberi]

Originally Posted by Constantine MMX

Continue, its very interesting.

constantine how do you make quotes appear more presentable

[Waaberi]

Establishing a Somalia Camel Reproduction Center like they have in Dubia.

The Dubai Camel..Reproduction Center The intense interest in camel racing in the Emirates is not so much about money as about cultural heritage…

01/06/2010
Introduction...

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, is keen that, Dubai should be on the map. From Dubai’s point of view, it is important to be on the map in the world of science as well as in the world of camel racing.

The science could be doing a lot of good for other countries, and from this point of view, and in 1989 His Highness Sheikh Mohammed gave instructions to establish The Dubai Camel Reproduction Centre which is situated out in the desert about 40km from Dubai city, to develop the modern techniques of embryo transfer and artificial insemination, already used in several domestic species (eg. non-thoroughbred horses, cows and sheep), for use in the racing camel, and to study the reproductive physiology of camels in order to enhance their productivity.

The Centre comprises of an air conditioned handling area for handling and treating the camels, a well equipped lab for handling semen and embryos and about 150 ex - racing camels for research purposes

Camel racing has always been a Bedouin pastime. But only during the past thirty years or so has it become a highly organized activity with large investments in bloodlines and facilities. In the 1990s a dozen new camel racetracks have been built in the Emirates alone.

The intense interest in camel racing in the Emirates is not so much about money as about cultural heritage. The traditional Bedouin way of life is verging on extinction, but the animal at its heart can still be exalted. It is difficult to overestimate the centrality of the camel in the Arab imagination.

Inevitably, the fires of cultural nationalism have been fanned by the simoon of competition. The camel-racing sheikhs have ample resources, and they have sunk vast sums into the buying and training of camels. There are manyhundredsof active racing camels in the Emirates. UAE sheikhs have built special treadmills and swimming pools to give the animals exercise. They have experimented with dietary supplements. They have mounted attacks on trypanosomosis and camel pox. They have hired physiologists, nutritionists, even psychologists. And, of course, they have begun to think about improving the racing stock, through scientific breeding programs and careful attention to pedigree because the reproductive efficiency of camels under their natural pastoral conditions is low. The reasons for this low reproductive efficiency include the short breeding season, the late age of reaching puberty and the long gestation period of 13 months.

Dr Lulu...and…the Cama…

Julian Alexandra Skidmore, an Englishwoman known to everyone in Dubai as Lulu,
She is The Scientific Director of the Dubai Camel Reproduction Centre.

During our visit that took place at her office, Dr. Lulu told us that, “after completing her initial BSc(Hons) degree in Animal Science at London University she worked in South Africa for one year on a thoroughbred stud farm helping in the training stables and on the stud, and then in 1991 she registered at Cambridge University(UK) and started her PhD project entitled “Reproduction in the dromedary camel”

During this time she spent 6 months of the year at the Camel Reproduction Centre in Dubai doing the practical work with the camels and 6 months at the Equine Fertility Unit in Newmarket doing the lab work.

After completing her PhD she stayed on as Scientific Director of the Camel Reproduction Centre to continue various projects which involve all aspects of camel reproduction such as embryo transfer of fresh, cooled and frozen embryos, artificial insemination of fresh, cooled and frozen semen, follicular dynamics and hormone concentrations throughout the oestrous cycle, diagnosis and endocrinology of pregnancy, control of luteolysis and maternal recognition of pregnancy”. Her background was with horses and equine reproduction as she worked at the Equine Fertility Unit, in Newmarket for 5 years where she was involved with projects doing embryo transfer in horses as well as . a project splitting horse embryos to produce identical twins, similar to what she has done with camels producing Bahi and Zahi

When we asked Dr. Lulu on motives and the scientific outcomes for the reproduction process, she explained that, the motive for doing embryo transfer and artificial insemination is to improve the reproductive potential of female camels. If you use a good racing, meat producing or milk producing camel as your donor animal that donates the oocytes, mate her to a good male then you can produce lots of embryos to transfer into individual recipient animals and therefore produce several good offspring rather than just one good animal and several average animals. Artificial insemination also increases the reproductive potential of male animals as one semen ejaculate can be diluted out in special extender and then used to inseminate 3 – 5 females instead of the male just mating one camel. Semen and embryos can also be frozen and stored until needed or sent to other regions and even countries if required to spread the gene pool further.

Dr Lulu was also in charge of the project that has produced the Worlds only camas (hybrids between camels and llamas -ie. llama Mum and Camel Dad) which prove to be a mixture of the two breeds. They are larger than the llamas but smaller than the camels and do not have a hump. They have the woolly coat of the llamas but are much stronger ie they have much stronger legs and body mass so would make good pack animals. Their ears are longer than the camels but shorter than the llama whereas their tails are longer than llamas and more camel like. Their feet are also a mixture of the two breeds as they are not as round as the camel foot pad but also not as cloven as the llama; they have a narrower foot pad than camels with two prominent toes. Their head features are also more like a large llama than a camel.

The birth of a Cama... 30 Millions years old miracle…

At 11am on January 14th 1998 at the Dubai Camel Reproduction Centre, United Arab Emirates, Rama the Cama was born - the world’s first viable hybrid between a camel and a guanaco, the wild antecedent of the domesticated llama.

Rama, a male, looks slightly more like his massive dromedary father, who is six times heavier than his diminutive guanaco mother. His ears are longer than the camels but shorter than the llama whereas his tail is longer than a llamas and more camel like. He also has a narrower foot pad than camels with two prominent toes.

Rama’s conception was made possible by modern reproductive technology. Ovarian follicular development in his mother was monitored by rectal ultrasound and when a ripe follicle was detected, she was inseminated with fresh camel semen, and ovulation was induced by a hormone injection.
Ovulation was confirmed by ultrasound, and the pregnancy monitored continuously until just before delivery. Gestation was uneventful, and the guanaco went into labour spontaneously after a gestation of 328 days or 10.5 months. This is slightly shorter than a typical guanaco gestation of 335 - 360 days, and much shorter than the normal camel gestation of 385 days or 13 months.

This unique hybrid animal sheds newlight on our understanding of mammalian evolution. The Camel family originated in North America, in the Rocky mountains. Around 30 - 40 million years ago some Camelids migrated North to Alaska, and then crossed the Bering Straits into Siberia, and than down into Mongolia. This was to become the home of the largest camelid, the two -humped Bactrian camel, whilst the smaller one-humped dromedary migrated south-west to populate the Saudi -Arabian peninsula, Iran, Pakistan and part of northern India. It is thought that camels might first have reached North Africa by human intervention, as they were not recorded in Egypt at the time of the Pharoahs.

The purpose for doing this was not only for the scientific reason to see if it was possible to put two species, that have been separated for around 30 million years, back together again but also to see if it was possible to combine the best attributes of both species ie The long woolly coat of the llama on an animal that was somewhere in height between that of the llama and camel so it would be stronger than a llama and more manageable than the camel with a good quality coat. Hopefully they will develop temperaments that are less flighty than llamas but less stubborn than camels!

This project’ funding was generously provided by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai , and the project was directed by Dr. Lulu Skidmore, with the technical assistance of Mr. Tipu Billah. Professor W.R. Allen, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge and Professor R.V. Short, Dept. of Perinatal Medicine, University of Melbourne, acted as scientific advisors.

Identical win camel calves born at the dubai camel reproduction centre...

Dr Lulu and her team continue their efforts in new projects, and during the year 2008 the Dubai Camel Reproduction Centre, announced the recent birth of Zahi and Bahi, identical twin, male camel calves.

After approximately a thirteen month gestation Zahi was born on 10th February and Bahi on 26th February 2008 following a natural birth from there respective mothers.

Zahi and Bahi were created using the technique of embryo micro- manipulation. A six- day old camel embryo was flushed out of the uterus of the donor camel and was carefully split into two halves, under the microscope, using a tiny micro-blade. Care has to be taken to ensure that the tiny inner cell mass part of the embryo (the part that develops into the fetus) is actually split into equal halves otherwise only one fetus will develop. Both halves were cultured for two hours in an incubator in embryo culture media and subsequently transferred into two separate, recipient (surrogate mother) camels. These surrogate mothers were synchronized with the donor mother, to make sure they were at the same stage in their reproductive cycle and ready to accept an embryo.

At the end of our visit to Dr. Lulu’s office, she insisted (even though she had a conference to attend) to accompany us to introduce us to her “children” the Camas, Kamilah, Jamilah and Rocky.

there are a few things to take from this article.

1. Reproductive Technology will allow for the hormonal control of ovulation, allow for the storage and transport of eggs,semen and embryos and use artificial insemination to produce Camels with the best genetic make up especially those that produce more milk. technology like sonograms will allow doctors to monitor the pregnancy and allow for a save delivery.

2. new Technology has created hybrid animals a Cama: a hybrid between Dromedary and Illmas, alpaca, vacuna and guanaco. ethics aside Technology is still there and well be used. imagine the possibilities, a hybrid which is hardy like the Dromedary, able to survive and thrive in arid regions but will produce fleece like the Illmas which could open up a new industry in somalia especially in carpet production.

[Waaberi]

throughout our history Somalis have only know the Dromedary Camel and only 2 varieties one used for transport and one for milking. Somali Camel are not for riding on. we should import other varieties of Camels.

[Waaberi]

To encourage Tourism Somalia should have huge Camel Festival every year after the Gu. when the monsoon rains turn the arid plains of somalia into lush grassland and the nomad is able for a brief period of time to put aside the weariness of nomadic life and celebrate the season.

we should have Camel races







hope the guy didn't get stomp on.

Camel wresting






Camel Pageant







Camel Acrobatics





Camel Riding







look mom no hands



romantic camel ride on the coast of the indian ocean

[juzme123]

Interesting thread!... marka laga reebo camel wrestling oo ah animal cruelty.

But camel milk is very interesting; i remember reading somewhhere that camel milk, which is very nutricious, can be drunk by those with lactose intolerance (cows milk is high in lactose?)... and it also helps with diabetes.

As for the nomadic way of life, i will comment later when i have more time.

[juzme123]

The nomadic way of life.

I've travelled through the harsh and unforgiving landscape of the more arid regions of the Somali peninsula. Travelling through those lands I was perplexed and puzzled as to how our ancestors had survived in such a harsh landscape devoid of vegetation, arable lands and perrenial water bodies. Only then did I begin to appreciate and understand the ingenuity of the nomadic way of life in general, and the life of the nomad who keeps camels in particular.

The camel was first domesticated in the Somali peninsula and I then understood why - even today 2/3 of the world's camel population is found in the Somali peninsula. It was a case of making maximum produce in the most effective way out of the scare and limited resources. A camel was used, before the advent of modern technologies and a globalised economy, for many purposes. It was a mode of travel and movement of items. Camels are sterdy, versatile and are ideal for dry landscapes in a way that few other livestock are. The [Somali] camel can go over three weeks without water and walk for miles on end without tiring. It was reared for its meat and its very nutricious protein-rich milk. The milk was used as/made into drinking milk, ghee, butter, yogurt; and the meat was cooked, fried, steamed or salted and dried or preserved in ghee. Its hide/skin was obviously also used for many purposes and also exported overseas. Camels also supplemented the keeping of other liivestock such as the Somali sheep and also to a lesser extent of goats. The versatility and many uses of this animal were just brilliant and whoever first thought up the domesticating/keeping of this animal was a genius and her/his idea has sustained and been a lifeline for an entire people over centuries.

But then our people also were very engaged in trade and, in the southern regions of the Somali peninsula, farming. So gradually we developed a complex system of internationaly oriented trading port cities, demomestically oriented market towns in the hinterland and lastly these supplemented the dominant way of life in the farming villages & nomadic settlements in the interior. The trading port cities and towns, stretching from Djibouti, east to Boosaaso and south to Ras Kambooni are still evident today. The market towns/villages have now grown to be Galkacayo, Baidoa, Hargeisa, Burco etc. And the nomadic and farming settlements are still present.

All the above may well be true, but today the nomadic way of life is serverely threatened - and it is no longer and effecient way of living in this developed, technologically advanced and globalised world. It is threatened by climate change and by the people themselves not understanding and not respecting their environment/habitat. Dhirtii oo dhan waa la gubay. Dhuxul aa laga dhigay. Baaqi dollar ah si lagu hello, ayaa loo dhoofiyay. Urbanisation is also happening at an astonishing rate... reer baadiye/guuraa/mii waybe yaryihiin waagan. The nomadic way of life was great and I respect the history and culture we have gained from it over the centuries but it no longer suitable, there are better alternatives. Having said that, the history, legacy and culture of this way of life needs to be preserved in in texts, books, plays, poems, films etc.

[juzme123]

Camel wrestling, not a good idea.

[Xusein]

Geeljires need to find something to do during the down time.

[Waaberi]

Camel Police






LOL

[Tom & Jerrii]