1. Estimates of methane emission from the
camel (Camelius dromedarius) compared
to dairy cattle (Bos taurus)
Guerouali, A. and Laabouri, F.
Hassan II Agronomic and Veterinary Institute,
Rabat, Morocco

2. Plan of the presentation
• General information about the camel population
• Adaptation to desert environment and nutrients
requirement
• The bad news about the camel population of
Australia
• Mesurements of methane emission in the camel
compared to dairy cattle
• Data discussion and conclusion

6. -No water in the hump but energy
-Heat
Stress Tolerance
-Body temperature
variation (36 to 42 °C)
-Huge water intake
when dehydrated

7. Variations in water requirements in camel and cattle with
respect to environmental temperature
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---Species
Water requirements
Urine losses
Water requirements
at 15 °C
at 15°C
at 30°C
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dairy cattle
40 l/d
25 l/d
120 l/d
Lactating camel
10 l/d
4 l/d
20 l/d
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8. -Digestive trial in
the field and
Indirect
calorimetry with
face mask

9. Energy requirements for maintenance and growth
in the camel compared to sheep and cattle
• ENERGY REQUIREMENT FOR MAINTENANCE OF CAMEL
MEm = 306 KJ/ kg0.75(camel) → 1kg of DM/100kg LBW
MEm = 380 KJ/ kg0.75(sheep)
25% higher
MEm = 440 kj/ kg0.75(cattle)
45% higher
• EFFICIENCY OF ENERGY UTILIZATION FOR GROWTH
Kf = 61% (camel)
Kf = 56% (sheep)
Inferior by 18%
Kf = 42% (cattle)
Inferior by 31%

10. Kill a camel to stop pollution? That is precisely what Australia is considering.
The suggestion came from Northwest Carbon Pty Ltd (Tim Moore, 2010) to
Australian Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (ADCCEE).

11. Considering the camel one of the country's biggest greenhouse gas
emitters, the Northwest company proposed the shooting of camels
from a helicopter or rounding them up and send them to a
slaughterhouse.

12. As scientists working on camel physiology and
concerned with animal welfare and protection, we
developed this study with an objective: dealing with
animal welfare and protection, we developed a trial
To measure for the first time methane emissions in the
camel
To compare them to methane emissions in dairy cattle receiving
the same diet expressed in:
- liter/day
- liter/kg of dry matter intake.

13. Animals used in the experimentation
8-13 years
x7
Average Body Weight = 409 kgs
Dry and non pregnante animals
8 -10 years
x7
Average Body Weight = 441 kgs
Dry and non pregnante animals

14. Feeding Ration used in the trial:
3 kgs of lucerne hay
2 kgs of barley grains
Free access to water
4.5 kgs of DMI

15. Figure 1: The face mask system used to measure methane emission in camel and dairy cow

16. Figure 2: a camel wearing a mask for measurement of methane
emission shown with a companion to reduce the stress on the
experimental animal .

17. Figure 3: Methane emissions in dairy cattle and its variations over time (5mm/min)
Camel
Figure 4: Methane emissions in camel and its variations over time (5mm/min)

18. Methane emission in the camel
An average of 18 eructation
cycles per hour, covering 90%
of the methane produced.
While the rest of the
methane produced (10%) is
emitted through respiration

19. Table 1: Estimates of methane production in seven camels expressed in
liters per day and in liters per kg of dry matter intake
Camels
Methane Production
(liters/day)
Methane Production
(liters/kg of DMI)
1
52,75
12,04
2
77,24
17,63
3
57,67
13,16
4
73,81
16,85
5
72,82
16,62
6
62,39
14,24
7
69,74
15,92
Mean
66,63
15,20
Deviation Standards
8,47
1,93

20. Methane emission in dairy cattle
Vache
An average of 54 eructation
cycles per hour, covering 85%
of the methane produced.
While the rest of the methane
produced (15%) is emitted
through respiration

21. Table 2: Estimates of methane production in seven dairy cows expressed
in liters per day and in liters per kg of dry matter intake
Dairy cows
Methane Production
(liters/day)
Methane Production
(liters/kg of DMI)
1
148,75
33,96
2
157,82
36,03
3
303,06
69,19
4
200,10
45,68
5
219,27
35,82
6
159,90
36,50
7
Mean
167,46
193,76
38,23
42,20
Deviation Standards
50,41
11,56

22. Some digestive and metabolic particularities in camel may
explain this difference in methane production:
The camel has lower feed intake with smaller forestomach
made of tree compartments only.
Différente strains of bacteria and less protozoa in the
digestive tract.
Higher buffering capacity for acids in the rumen but very
high sensitivity to urea feeding.
Higher level of glycemia (1.5 g/l) compared to horses (1g/l)
and cattle (.5 g/l). The importance of VFA in the glucide
metabolism of the camel.
Lower production of acetate in camel compared to cattle
with tha same diet .

23. conclusions
Methane production was measured in camel and dairy cattle receiving
the same diet and the data indicated that dairy cattle produce three
times more methane that camel
Some digestive and metabolic particularities of each species may
explain the difference
Other solutions to reduce the green house gases should be proposed
than the eradication of the camel population of Australia.

24. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION