Quick Facts about Camels’ (Dromedary & Bactrian) Domestication History

Domestication of Old World Camels

The camel was domesticated bit later than other animals so its name appeared late in the register of domesticated animals. The one-humped camel (Camelus dromedarius) is found in the all Arab land, Africa, South and central asia. dromedary camel is also found in Australian deserts commonly known as feral camel. Australian camels were actually emigrated to Australia with Asian people, especially Afghan to use as beast of burden for Australian development in eighteenth century.

Dromedary or Arabian Camel

Tribulus Plant
A dromedary camel grazing in the Arabian desert, eating the Tribulus flowers.
Dromedaries Domesticated Before Bactrian
The dromedaries were domesticated even earlier than the Bactrian, before 3000 BC in the Arabian Peninsula. The term "dromedary" is derived from the dramas Greek for "road") and thus is directly applicable only to the racing or riding dromedary. However, the term is used throughout the world to describe this specie.

Dromedaries were first associated with nomadic Semitic cultures and did not become important until the rise of the Arabian culture. They became important domestic animals only with the Muslim conquests of Egypt in the 7th to 11th centuries AD.

The Bactrian or Bakhdi Camels

I shot this picture in the month of the May. Though the weather was not hot still the environment is not very friendly for the exotic livestock.
Two-humped camel (Camelus bactrianus ) is an Asiatic animal found in Gobi desert and other central Asian countries. The Bactrian Camels are thought to have been domesticated prior to 2500 BC. The name Bactrian is derived from a place name, Bactria, on the Oxus River in northern Afghanistan. Domesticated Bactrian camels were found in southern Russia by 1700-1200 BC and even in western Siberia by the 10th century BC. They were used in China as early as 300 BC as the original "silk  route" camels, but were replaced by crossbreds of the Bactrian/dromedary  later on.

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