Raidi or Jathnasal Camel breed of Balochistan

This breed of camel purely belongs to a pastoral community of Jath. They are entirely pastoral and move on the Kachhi basin and reach to Sindh province of Pakistan in winter and in summer they reach up to their destination in the Bolan hills. According to them, Berrela breed of Thal (a small desert in Punjab province of Pakistan) and Cholistan is the offshoot of their breed (Raidi).

There is a very touchy story about the Raidi breed, as they (pastoralists) said that when the Muslim pilgrims of the sub-continent had been travelling with their camels’ caravan to Makka, that time the Raidi pastoralists were the main providers of energetic fresh camel to the Hajis (pilgrims) and to take their sick, injured camels to take rest and get well. After returning from Hajj, the pilgrims were to hand over their camel back to pastoralists and have to take their own camels. In this way, they said that the Raidi camel has the genetic characters of all the camel breeds of the sub-continent because of the breeding with the bulls of the sub-continental camels.

Riadi camel is good in milk, highly resistant to the extremely hot weather of the region, well suited for work in the agricultural field and resistant to many diseases. The camel is the heaviest in the region and weight up to 700 kg. 

Author: Dr Raziq

I’m PhD in Animal Agriculture, currently working as a Technical Manager at Al Ain Farms for Livestock Production, Camel dairying, Alain, UAE. I had performed as a Professor and Dean, at the Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences Pakistan (LUAWMS). I work on and write for the subjects of ‘turning camel from a beast of burden to a sustainable farm animal’, agricultural research policies, extensive livestock production systems, food security under climate change context, and sustainable use of traditional genetic resources for food and agriculture. Iim advocating camel under the theme of CAMEL4LIFE and believe in camel potential. I’m the founder and head of the Society of Animal, Veterinary and Animal Scientists (SAVES), and Founder of the Camel Association of Pakistan. I also work as a freelance scientist working (currently member of steering committee) for Desert Net International (DNI). I’m an ethnoecologist, ethnobotanist, Ethnovet and ethomedicie researcher and reviewer. I explore deserts and grazing lands for knowledge and understanding. View all posts by Dr Raziq