The state and prospects of development of camel breeding in Kalmyks

Abstract

The United Nations has declared 2024 the International Year of Camels. The camelidae family unites two genera that currently exist: camels (Camelus) and llamas (Lama). The camel genus (Camelus) consists of the wild camel, or hawthorn (Camelus ferus) and the domesticated double-humped (Camelus bactrianus) bactrians and single-humped (Camelus dromedarius) dromedaries. The total number of camels in the world is estimated at 39 million.
Humpless camel genus Lama (Lama) – live in South America, their total population reaches 12.5 million heads. These include the Guanaco (Lama guanicoe), Lama (Lama glama) – a domesticated descendant of the guanaco. The Vicuna (Lama vicugna) [syn. Vicugna vicugna] and the Alpaca (Lama pacos) [syn. Vicugna pacos] are the domesticated descendant of the vicuna.
Camels contribute to food security, nutrition and economic growth, and are of great cultural importance to many communities in more than 90 countries around the world and are the main means of livelihood for millions of low-income families who live in the most complex ecosystems on the planet.
Camel farming has traditionally been one of the four traditional livestock industries of the Kalmyks steppe people. First of all, the value of the camel was given by its universal productivity, because the camel combined the qualities of a sheep, cow and horse. In modern conditions, the range of camel use has significantly decreased, but at the same time camel breeding remains a profitable occupation.
Kalmyk camels are the largest in the world, have high productive qualities and have traditionally been used to improve camels of Kazakh and Mongolian breeds