Changing the Guard

 

From William...

PJ the male camel doesn't know that his life is about to change. He has been living at our camel boma with the females for almost two years but his reign is about to come to an end. We rather like him because he is gentle and gentlemanly and he has produced a lot of female calves. We don't have to be wary of him at all; he has never been aggressive towards humans even though he is so tall and can look intimidating when he wanders around the boma with his tongue inflated to show that he is the man.

Every day up until now he has accompanied the females into the bush to graze and he rarely argues with the herdsman's plans for the route. We'll be sorry to see him go.

In preparation, we separated him from the females three days ago and put him in the section that we normally use for maternity cases. He has found this confusing and complains loudly when his girls go out without him, but today he will be fetched by one of the herdsman from the male camel boma which is right down by the Ewaso River and in exchange we will receive a new male. PJ will walk the six miles back to the other boma, accompanied by the herdsman and an armed ranger to prevent attacks by predators, and he will return to his former life as a riding camel. 

This change is essential to prevent in-breeding within the milking herd as PJ's own daughters reach maturity. 

Credit: William Lokitoi

The male camel, in Swahili 'ndume wa ngamia', is called 'Farasi' which means horse! He has been chosen (and named) for his good temperament and up until now he too has been a riding camel for the camel safaris. 

You just put your lips together and blow. Credit: William Lokitoi