The Camel Market in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia

 

Buraidah (بريدة) is the capital and largest city of Al-Qassim Province in north-central Saudi Arabia [1]. The city has a population of 571,169 (2022 census) and is regarded as the agricultural capital of Saudi Arabia. Therefore we find the Buraidah Camel Market (سوق بريدة للإبل), also known as Al-Qassim Camel Market (سوق الجمل بالقصيم), there, which is the largest of its kind in the world. The Arabian camel or “one-hump” camel had been historically the main source of transport in Saudi Arabia, though these days are long gone by, also for nomads!

Every day at sunrise the Buraidah Camel Market comes to life. Where we stopped, only camels were traded, but sheep, goats, and goods such as saddles, halters, and blankets have their own areas elsewhere [2]. I've read: “The markets are pure chaos, with thousands of camels rattling in their rusty pens, men from all over hoisting their purchases into the back of their pick-up trucks, and the screams of animals mixed with sand, heat, and smell!” [3] In a report in German, I've read: “There is a calm chaos at the camel market.” [4] I think the term “chaos” is a misjudgment. There was no chaos, but the order wasn't apparent to us, because there were separate areas for certain classes of camels. Most of the camels here were sold for slaughter. Then, in another area, there were the pregnant female camels and some also females with foals. These camels were sold as dairy animals. Other categories included race camels, which weren't shown to me, "beautiful" animals, and those for breeding. Up to 1,000 camels are sold here daily.

Once the buyer had purchased his camels, they were lifted by crane onto the back of a small truck. The camels tolerated this, but they didn't have much room to move, as their legs were tied together. This may look barbaric, but it's a safety measure for both the animal and its handler, because an animal kicking out while hanging from a crane can injure not only itself but also the people standing nearby.

Sometimes the buyers and sellers glanced at our group, as over half were women, and you don't usually see them at the market. However, this quickly subsided, and taking photos was no problem at all. I noticed quite a few Somalis and asked about them. Many camels come from Somalia, and Somalis are sought after as herders or handlers because they are very skilled with the animals.

Our group set off fairly early. Had I been visiting alone, I would have left at sunrise, if only for the changing light, which illuminates the market, the camels, buyers, sellers, and herders. But no matter when, seek to visit the  Buraidah Camel Market as long as it is possible. 

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buraydah,_Saudi_Arabia 
[2] If you're interested in these, too, you have to ask the locals.
[3] https://www.hziegler.com/articles/camel-markets.html 
[4] https://futzipelz.de/in-80-tagen-um-die-welt-hautnah-dabei-auf-dem-kamelmarkt-von-buraydah-in-saudi-arabien/ and https://vancouversun.com/travel/burayhah-camel-market 

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Mongolia – some Camels

 

The landscape shortly before the encounter with the camels

While in Mongolia I had the chance to see quite a lot of camels in the wilderness. Did I see the wild Bactrian camel? Of course not; the Great Gobi A Strictly Protected Area still had been 500 km away from my route. But I had been interested as I had read the book on these cames by John Hare [2]. Hare writes about his expedition: 1993 to Mongolia, 1995, 1996, 1997 to China. He saw some wild Bactrian camels after great efforts. Interestingly, Nikolai Michailowitsch Prschewalski (or Przewalski or Przhewalsky / Николай Михайлович Пржевальский) first described this cameloped; some people doubt that it had been the wild Bactrian camel (Camelus ferus), but think he'd seen the offspring of the Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus), which had gone astray / run away – to my dismay these camels are called feral Bactrian camels, which comes close to the Latin taxonomic term. I've been at the Przhewalski Museum near the the city of Karakol in Kyrgyzstan [3], but failed to write about it so far. Przhewalski was buried on the Issyk-Kul lakeside. But we'll meet him again, when it comes to Przewalski's horse.

I guess quite a lot of people think of camels as depicted on the wrapping of a brand of cigarettes, but that's a dromedary.  We look at the Bactrian camel or Mongolian camel (Camelus bactrianus) [4], which isn't the domesticated form of the wild Bactrian camel; it is possible to differentiate them via DNA testing. The Bactrian camel can stand cold, drought, and high altitudes.

If look at the herd in the wilderness you may overlook the marks of the herders as these animals roam for quite a long tine on there own. The herders might adjust there route every now and then and they do so … on motorbikes, and yes, sometimes more romatically on horseback. The nomads don't move their gers (you might call it yurts, but there's a difference, we'll come back to this issue) with the herds, but twice a year from summer to winter pastures.

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Gobi_A_Strictly_Protected_Area
[2] John Hare: Auf den Spuren der letzten wilden Kamele. Eine Expedition ins verbotene China. Vorwort von Jane Goodall. Malik National Geographic, München 2002. ISBN-10: 3492401910.
[3] https://www.nomadsland.kg/en/before-you-go/kyrgyzstan/history/przewalski-museum
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bactrian_camel; and you might also want to check the entry on camels: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel or the wild Bactrian camel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Bactrian_camel

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