The One-humped Camel in the Canary Islands: History and Present Status

• Main Authors: Wilson, RT., Gutierrez, C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Presses Agronomiques de Gembloux 2015-01-01
• Series: Tropicultura
• Subjects: Introductions; Exports; Genetic resources; Livestock populations; Tourism; Canary Islands
• Online Access: http://www.tropicultura.org/text/v33n4/288.pdf

The one-humped camel (Camelus dromedarius L.) is not indigenous to the Canary Islands but based on historical references was introduced at the very beginning of the fifteenth century. The camel thrived in the subtropical dry environment. A long period of isolation from other animals of the same species meant that the animals were virtually disease free. This made the Islands an ideal base for exporting camels to new areas such that camels from the Canaries went to Peru in the sixteenth century, to Brazil in the eighteenth century, Venezuela and Bolivia in the early part of the nineteenth century and Australia in 1840. Camels went to several Caribbean islands in the middle of the nineteenth century. More recently (late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries) some animals were exported from the islands to mainland Europe, notably France, Spain and the Netherlands, and to South America. Camels have been used in military operations, as transport and draught animals in support of agriculture and have found a role in the tourist industry. In early 2013 there were some 1,300 camels distributed over four of the larger islands of the archipelago in herds varying in size from a single animal to herds of as many as 150 head: a large group of about 400 heads kept in a Safari Park on the island of Fuerteventura is considered as the national conservation herd. The "Canary" camel has recently been shown to be genetically distinct from most other populations and it has been proposed that it should be designated as a distinct breed.