Information Resources on Old World Camels: Arabian and Bactrian 2004-2009

579 Pages·2010·10.86 MB·English

by  Jean Larson

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Information Resources on
United States
Department of
Agriculture
Old World Camels:
Agricultural
Research
Service
Arabian and Bactrian
National
Agricultural
Library
2004-2009
Animal Welfare
Information
Center
Photo by Mr. Angeloux
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_angeloux/2466667912/
AWIC Resource Series No. 13, Revised 2010
AWIC Resource Series No. 13, Revised 2010
Information Resources on
United States
Department of
Agriculture
Old World Camels:
Agricultural
Research Arabian and Bactrian
Service
2004-2009
National
Agricultural
Library
AWIC Resource Series No. 13, Revised 2010
Animal Welfare
Information
Center
Compiled by:
Jean A. Larson, M.S.
Animal Welfare Information Center
National Agricultural Library
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Beltsville, Maryland 20705
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://awic.nal.usda.gov
Available online: http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/pubs/Camels09/camels.shtml
Disclaimers
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Materials appearing in this publication do not necessarily represent positions or policies of
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Table of Contents
About this Document iii
Introduction v
Bibliography
Bactrian 1
Arabian
Anatomy 43
Cestodes Diseases 61
Drugs 83
Parasites 103
Bacterial Pathogens 123
Physiology 169
Production 285
Products 397
Protozoal Diseases 423
Reproduction 457
Veterinary Care 491
Viral Diseases 535
Information Resources on Old World Camels (2009) •i
ii•
About this Document
This publication updates and revises “Information Resources on Old World Camels:
Arabian and Bactrian 1941-2004” AWIC Resource Series No. 13 - December 2004
(http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/pubs/Camels/camels2.htm).
There have been a number of decisions made regarding the topics that are included in this
publication. In most cases, the topics are related to the whole animal: biology, behavior, nutrition,
feeds, reproductive physiology and the birth process, breeding and genetics, diseases, disease
organisms, zoonotic aspects of infectious diseases, external parasites, veterinary care, etc. Some camel-
based products are addressed: milk, milk composition, microbiology and uses; some aspects of meat;
and the value and use of hides and fiber. Economics of camels and camel-based products as well as
their role in the lives of the nomadic people are also included. Organoleptic qualities of meat and
dairy products are not included.
The information in this resource has been extracted from many sources. It is not a comprehensive
listing of the world’s literature available on these animals. The published sources are mostly journal
articles, books, book chapters, conference papers, and reports. Abstracts are included when available
and when permitted by the copyright holders. Some credible World Wide Web resources are also
listed. Many references include the URL of the resource, the DOI numbers and the National
Agricultural Library call number for journals in our holdings. For ease of requesting photocopies or
interlibrary loans, see http://www.nal.usda.gov/services/request.shtml.
The bibliographic citation section is arranged in several topical areas, by publication year and
alphabetically by author within each year. Since this is an electronic version, it does not include an
index. It is expected that by searching using key words, the user will find what is of interest. Most of
the information is in English. References include materials published from 1941 through 2008.
The compiler welcomes additional information from other sources for inclusion or any comments
or suggestions. It is desirable to have a comprehensive resource of information about these animals,
and collaborators are welcome. If you have or know of science based information that would enhance
this publication, please contact me. Note that any information submitted must have the important
elements of identification and access i.e author, year, publication information, title, accessibility, etc.
The compiler welcomes additional information from other sources for inclusion as well as any
comments or suggestions. It is desirable to have a comprehensive resource of information about these
animals, and collaborators are also welcome. If you have or know of science-based information that
would enhance this publication, please contact us. Note that any information submitted must include
important elements of identification and access i.e. author, year, publication information, title,
accessibility, etc.
Information Resources on Old World Camels (revised 2010)•iii
Please send your comments, information, or suggestions to:
The Animal Welfare Information Center
10301 Baltimore Avenue
Beltsville, Maryland, 20705, USA
Contact us: http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/contact.php
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Readers are cautioned as to the dynamic nature of the internet and the fact that web addresses and
content are subject to change. All sites are current as of April 2010.
Acknowledgements
Sandra Ball, Webmaster for the AWIC program, spent many hours editing converting the document
into HTML. Her careful attention to detail helped greatly to provide a consistent, accurate and more
readable document.
iv•
Introduction
The Camelidae family is a comparatively small family of mammalian animals. There are two
members of Old World camels living in Africa and Asia--the Arabian and the Bactrian. There
are four members of the New World camels of South America--llamas, vicunas, alpacas and
guanacos. They are all very well adapted to their respective environments. The camels thrive
in the harsh deserts of Africa and Asia and their South American cousins in the high altiplano
and bush area. Most of these species have been integrated into and play very important roles
in lives of the indigenous people. They have been traditionally used for transport of people
and things, to supply hides and fibers for clothing, other textile articles, and meat and milk
products. The animals have been used and bred for several thousand years, but the efforts
to understand their biology and diseases in greater depth has been only been done fairly
recently. Because camels are still such important animals in Africa, the Middle East and
Asia, there has been more interest and need to understand their nutrition and health care
requirements, reproduction, behavior, physiology, diseases, veterinary care and responses to
new climates. This bibliography has been compiled to address these issues.
Taxonomy
Camels are in the taxonomic order Artiodactyla (even toed ungulates), sub order Tylopoda
(pad-footed), and Family Camlidae. They are ruminants along with the giraffes, deer, cattle,
sheep, goats and antelopes. They have several unique features: they walk on pads not hoofs,
they do not have horns or antlers, and their red blood cells are oval in shape. They also have
very high red blood cell counts. All the family members have great water efficiency, long
necks, two toes, and well-padded feet. Finally, a camel’s toes have a web connecting them.
The New World camels include two wild species in the high Andes of South America. They
are the vicuna (Lama vicugna) and the guanaco (Lama guanacoe). The native people of the
Andes domesticated the llama (Lama glama) and the alpaca (Lama pacos). There seems to
be some controversy over the parent species of the alpaca and llama. The evidence suggests
that both domestic species were derived from the guanaco. They all have long necks, but
Information Resources on Old World Camels (revised 2010) ••vv