🐫Camels: Milk trucks of the desert

Let’s get one thing straight: Camels’ humps are not filled with water. But their udders are most certainly full—full of nutritious, low-fat, salty-sweet camel milk, which is [starting to trend](. In parts of the world like Eastern Africa, [climate change has helped fuel the milk’s rise]( as droughts become more common, farmers switch out cows for camels, who can famously survive for months without water. People there love the stuff, too. Head to cafés in Nairobi and you’ll see [“camelccinos”]( on the menu. Health-obsessed consumers in the US—who can’t get enough of alternative milks—also contribute to the craze. The creamy beverage (which retails for upwards of $18 a pint in natural foods markets) is [free of whey proteins that cause lactose intolerance]( [higher in iron and vitamin C]( relative to cow’s milk, and naturally [lower in fat](. As dairy’s answer to climate change and the source of a new superfood, the humble camel, it seems, deserves some attention. Saddle up. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( [Quartz Obsession] Camels August 27, 2018 I’d walk a mile for a camelccino --------------------------------------------------------------- Let’s get one thing straight: Camels’ humps are not filled with water. But their udders are most certainly full—full of nutritious, low-fat, salty-sweet camel milk, which is [starting to trend](. In parts of the world like Eastern Africa, [climate change has helped fuel the milk’s rise]( as droughts become more common, farmers switch out cows for camels, who can famously survive for months without water. People there love the stuff, too. Head to cafés in Nairobi and you’ll see [“camelccinos”]( on the menu. Health-obsessed consumers in the US—who can’t get enough of alternative milks—also contribute to the craze. The creamy beverage (which retails for upwards of $18 a pint in natural foods markets) is [free of whey proteins that cause lactose intolerance]( [higher in iron and vitamin C]( relative to cow’s milk, and naturally [lower in fat](. As dairy’s answer to climate change and the source of a new superfood, the humble camel, it seems, deserves some attention. Saddle up. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( By the digits [180]( Days a camel can survive without drinking water (at least when there’s some food to nosh on) [30]( Gallons of water they can drink in 13 minutes [30]( Days that some nomadic tribes in Africa survive on nothing but camel milk [50%]( Proportion of a farmer’s cattle herd typically lost in a bad drought in Eastern Africa [16%]( Proportion of a farmer’s camel herd typically lost under the same conditions [6.8%]( Annual rate at which the global camel milk market is estimated to grow from 2018-2022. [$15,000-$20,000]( Price of a camel cow in the US [$10 billion]( Potential value of the global camel dairy market, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). AP Photo/Amy Sancetta Factcheck! What's in the hump? --------------------------------------------------------------- Camels’ humps are closer to a Costco-size bag of trail mix than they are to a jug of water. The mounds—one or two, depending on the species—store fat that these animals can metabolize, or turn into fuel, when there’s nothing available to eat. According to [Animal Planet]( humps are equivalent to about three weeks of food. When they’re empty, they [deflate]( and sag to one side, only to perk back up once the mammal has a chance to refuel. That doesn’t mean camels aren’t highly adapted to living without water. For one, they have unusual oval-shaped blood cells, which can circulate through thick blood, and quickly expand when water is available. Plus, they waste no liquid: “A camel’s urine comes out thick as syrup,” Animal Planet explains, “and their feces is so dry, it can fuel fires!” Fun fact! Camels [are born humpless](. Once they start eating solid food, the protrusions begin to grow and can reach up to 80 pounds. Reuters/Steve Crisp Climate change A hooved insurance policy --------------------------------------------------------------- “As the climate gets more erratic and drier, we’re seeing people switching and incorporating camels into their livestock portfolio, almost as an insurance policy,” Patrick Freeman, a Brown University doctoral student who studies mammals in Africa, tells Quartz. And [nowhere is this more apparent than in Kenya]( where temperatures and long, unpredictable droughts have increased, precipitating an uptick in the even-toed ungulates on farms across the country. Today, there are three times as many camels in Kenya as there were 10 years ago. In other regions of the continent, including West and Southern Africa, camels are also replacing crops, which are [increasingly failing in the face of global warming](. 20 to 35 million people who live in regions that may become too arid to grow crops by 2050 stand to benefit from raising camels instead, [research suggests](. REUTERS/Joe Penney Pop quiz Why do camels spit? To mark their territoryTo surprise or distract a threatTo clear their throats of spiky debrisTo attract prospective mates Correct. Correct! Camels regurgitate the contents of their stomach along with saliva to surprise or distract a threat, such as an obnoxious tourist. Worried you might be the next target? If you see a camel’s cheeks inflate, seek cover. Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. Quotable “Honestly, [it tastes] like whole milk (which is terrible), but a little chunkier (also terrible) and with a weird sweetness at the end that makes it linger in your mouth (not sure if this is terrible).” —[Grant Marek, a journalist who tried camel milk for Thrillist]( Check the label Camel vs. cow: How do they compare? --------------------------------------------------------------- Got milk allergies? Research suggests that camel milk is absent of whey allergens found in other forms of dairy, like cow’s milk. In [one study]( 25 people with lactose intolerance were given camel milk, and only two of them had mild reactions when given the highest dosage (just over a cup). Taking advantage of this trait, one company has developed a [baby formula]( though it’s just for one- to three-year-olds so far. [Reuters/Steve Crisp]Frothy camel-milk based drinks are dispensed from a coffee machine at the Dubai shop of Al Nassma, the UAE’s “first and only camel milk chocolate brand.” Million-dollar question Will camel milk get cheaper? --------------------------------------------------------------- One barrier to producing camel milk is … milking camels. They’re [more finicky than dairy cows]( with their milk only available for 90 seconds at a time, and they only produce about a quarter as much per day as their bovine peers—which means that if it’s going to go mainstream in Holstein country, camels might need [similarly intensive breeding](. Quotable “He is from first to last an undomesticated and savage animal, rendered serviceable by stupidity alone, without much skill on his master’s part or any co-operation on his own… [N]ever tame, though not exactly awake enough to be exactly wild.” —[Desert explorer William Gifford Palgrave]( (“Palgrave’s indictment fills two closely printed pages,” author Robert Irwin notes.) Taxonomy Know your camels --------------------------------------------------------------- 🐪Dromedary: If you’ve seen, ridden, or milked a camel, chances are it was a dromedary; these one-humpers represent 90 percent of all camels on Earth. Though they’re native to Asia, the largest herd is actually found in Australia, where they were deliberately introduced in the 19th century. Now 750,000 strong, the herd is causing all kinds of problems in the outback—ironically, [because they’re guzzling down so much water](. 🐫Bactrian: Double-humps are rare, sported only by bactrian camels that represent 10 percent of the global population. And of those, nearly all of them are domesticated. The wild bactrian—the only undomesticated species of camel left on Earth—is [critically endangered]( with a remaining population of just 1,000 individuals (there are around 1,900 pandas, for perspective). Fun fact! To entice prospective mates and assert dominance, male dromedary camels inflate a large, pink sac in their throats called a dulla. The tongue-like organ hangs out of their mouth as they drool excessively, which females find attractive. BBC/ Watch this! The other camels --------------------------------------------------------------- Camelccinos may be a new trend, but Arabs have been racing camels for millennia. And mind you, these aren’t just any camels, but [million-dollar thoroughbreds]( that live a lavish life until racing day, when they sprint at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour for the gold (and a hefty cash prize). While the sport is ancient, it recently adopted a modern twist—remote control. Indeed, behind the hump where jockeys once sat is a small, remotely-operated robot armed with a whip. The machines are lighter than the real thing and they don’t violate age laws that went into effect after investigators [discovered]( a decades-old smuggling scheme, in which children were abducted and forced to ride as jockeys against their will. Facebook/Glasshouse Grind Poll Camelccino, anyone? [Click here to vote]( Yes, I’ll try anything onceYes, if it's drowned in chocolate and whipped creamNo, it sounds pretty gross, tbh 💬let's talk! In last week’s poll, 39% of you said you won’t be donning [a bikini]( now, or ever. 📧Mary wrote: “I was recently at Sitges, Spain, a beach town south of Barcelona, and local beach joints sold ‘bikinis’— triangular half sandwiches of Bimbo (Wonder Bread), deli ham (aka York), and cheese. Called ‘bikini’ because they are the shape of bikini bottoms.” 📧Abiola added: “As much as it’s acceptable in the other part of the world, it’s still not culturally acceptable in Nigeria. In cases like this, I’m glad to be a Nigerian.” 🍖 [Dive into the Obsession archive]( 🐰[Discuss on the Quartz Obsession Reddit]( ✏️ [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20camels&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) 📬 [Forward this email to a friend](mailto:replace_with_friends_email@qz.com?cc=obsession%2Bforward@qz.com&subject=%F0%9F%90%ABCamels%3A%20Milk%20trucks%20of%20the%20desert&body=Thought%20you%27d%20enjoy.%20%0ARead%20it%20here%20http%3A%2F%2Fqz.com%2Femail%2Fquartz-obsession%2F1370722) Today’s email was written by [Benji Jones]( edited by[Whet Moser,]( produced by [Aisha Hassan](. The correct answer to the quiz is To surprise or distract a threat. Enjoying the Quartz Obsession? [Send this link]( to a friend! 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