Hi Maurizio,

Thank you for this important question,

Actually, successful AI = Good manipulation of semen (collection, evaluation, preservation, insemination) + An appropriate synchronization program in females.

Camel in this aspect locates behind all other species, this might be for many reasons:

1. No great effort has been done in this field, little interest, and low facilities by people having camels.

2. Liquefaction of male semen is a large problem, that need more intensive studies and modern labs to develop easy techniques.

3. Estrous synchronization: female camel has no mid-CL that making control the cycle problematic. Also here, we need many alternative and practical techniques to synchronize the estrous in camels. 

I hope that with increasing the interest of people, especially in the west countries, for milk production from camels, this may in force them to search a ways to overcome the current problems in camel reproduction and production. 

Ali

Perhaps it would be more fruitful to compare with other species than comparing with cattle? E.g., for horses and sheep, AI technology is later and not as well developed as for cattle. Could we learn more from AI development for other species? What kind of constraints are there for different species, and how can they be handled?

I am in full agreement with colleague Maurizzio, my work with South American camelids AI was totally frustrating!!! . I think, that should put more emphasis on studying the reproductive behavior of the species and so reach firmer conclusions on how to make reproductive management, instead of thinking in artificial techniques for reproduccuión.

Hi Malin, the reason I used the cattle example is because AI should be simple to be used widely. Even if ways to store camel semen are found and even if the % of pregnancies using frozen semen will be comparable to % with natural mating (and is not assured because of the peculiar ovulation system of camels) you still will not know which/when female to fertilize. There are ways to find out but impracticable and they will also increase the final costs for the farmer.

If you have a very valuable dairy camel cow and you have a very valuable bull in another country, you might want to make big efforts to use AI, despite the costs and troubles, and despite risks with poor outcome. So I guess it might be useful in some cases.

But your question is if it might be used in larger scale. Since camel dairy industry is generally on a very low technological level, I guess AI will not be the method of preference yet. However, if there would be a shift in production system towards larger, more industrialized dairy farms, there would be higher demand for AI, more money involved and more economic interest in developing methods for the full AI chain. So it depends on how the camel dairy industry will develop. Money makes the world go round... and lack of money is usually the biggest problem for researchers when trying to develop new methods.

Perhaps you read this article? I could only find abstract. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23153625

Hi Maurizio

i also think that AI in camels might not be as widely used as in cattle at least in the near future. This is due to several reasons including the camel's non-spontaneous ovulation pattern, the difficulty in identification of oestrus cycle signs in camels; the majority of camels are raised under traditional extensive systems, the camel is not as important from an economical point of view as cattle, etc.

AI is now used in a small scale with expensive racing camels specially in the Arabian Gulf region because it is worthwhile to do and people in this region can afford it.

Hello Dr Kshash, the excellent article of Skidmore et al of 2013 confirm simply what I stated earlier. AI in dromedaries is certainly possible but very far from being equal to AI in cattle.

In Skidmore et al words :

" Although the results (of AI ) to date may seem rather LOW TO BE COMMERCIALLY ATTRACTIVE, ......... ONCE METHODS FOR THE COOLING AND DEEP FREEZING OF CAMEL SPERMATOZOA ARE SUCCESSFULLY ACHIEVED......." 

So take note that these problem have NOT been solved yet. Once these obstacles have been cleared (when 10-20 years ? never?) there is the issue of finding the best inseminating time of the recipient female and this means developing a series of examinations and or medical treatment to facilitate ovulation.

Bottom line: AI in dromedaries is applicable only in a zoo like setting or a research environment with lots of well trained personnel, a handful of animals and where a high % of successfully pregnant animals is not a very important objective. As unpalatable to admit for the 1000s of camel scientists AI is of negligible practical utility in a standard camel farm setting, at least in this century!  

I Think that AI will be practiced as in horses. This requires ruling of dilution and conservation of semen and more practice on follicular cycle control in the females. The first is already agraved by natural high fluctuation of camel semen concentration and the second by the reduced number of fertile cycle and induced ovulation in she-camels.

In addition, the favorable breeding season in this species conincids with the season of high mobility of herds in natural pastoral system. Although ovarian activity does not fully cease in the off-season, the risk of pregnancy after controled cycle and AI may will be very low compared to very difficult climatic conditions and low body reserves. This would prevent the wide spread of this technology.

The desired genetic progress is mainly of following traits; animal morphology (mechanical milking ...), milk production (quantity, quality) and racing performances. These aspects inevitably go through an intensification and a perfect control of the living conditions of animals for the expression of their real potential and allow effective selection of the best breeders. I think that the current socio-economic conditions prevent the countries and communities that hold the largest number of camels in the world from getting there.

I think taht the regulatory aspects that should govern the practice of this technique from the very high potential breeds and limit it's generalisation as in cattle.

I think it will be limited for many years to experiential stations and centers of genital improvement.

Dear Dr Monaco,

my statements are science based. The manuscript you quote simply demonstrate that my statement about the un-feasibility of AI in camel is correct.

AI in camel is not equivalent to AI in cattle since female camels receiving AI must have "..Follicular development was synchronized to carry out natural mating (NM) or AI using the FW synch protocol etc etc "

Of course "hope springs eternal".

Kind regards

Maurizio

The question is correctly formulated and the answer is: ´No´, therefore the efforts made in the development of AI should be reviewed and if it is not necessary, before thinking about AI, solve the reproductive problems that the species has before to think of sophisticated and inapplicable techniques in the farm.

I think we can work with both things at the same time. There can be research on high-tech AI and at the same time there can be applied research about improving reproductive health in camel herding in field conditions.

Dr Monaco commitment to the subject of AI in camels is noted. However any reader should note his words: "Frozen semen cannot survive for long time" "ovarian activity may be synchronized with just few injections".."prepared technicians would be required to apply such techniques in future and its application on a large scale will require a long time"

So reading between the lines Dr Monaco conclusions are the same of mine: AI in the camel will not work on a large scale.

A few more thoughts about AI in camels. There is only ONE driving force behind all efforts to develop AI in camels. It is the camel racing sector that is existing competitively (with large economic interests) only in the Arabian/Gulf countries . The relevance/importance of this highly specialised sector within the world population of camels is......negligible. The overwhelming majority of dromedaries all over the world are essentially kept as milking animals in a nomadic "pastoral" set up, free range plus occasionally/seasonally supplemented with agricultural byproducts. The production capabilities of such animals are finely tuned to their environment balancing effectively the challenges of endemic diseases, unreliable/poor veterinary services, strong fodder seasonality, substantial watering intervals-brackish water. Note that male camels are also included: male of highly productive camel milk breeds will not go on rut=breed, when kept in substandard set up.

Anybody thinking that AI could be a tool to increase the milking productivity of these camels simply demonstrate a shallow knowledge on camel husbandry systems in pastoral areas. Sure there are milking dromedaries kept as modern dairy livestock: machine milked in a zero grazing set up, fed with valuable fodder, with modern veterinary care, but these are again a minute percentage of the world camel population.

Dear Dr Monaco,

of course I believe in the benefits and usefulness of AI and, like you, I trust in science. Please "read my lip" and do not accuse me of not believing in an important animal breeding tool such as AI or in not have any "vision" or even worse of devaluing other's work!

The subject of my initial question and subsequent discussion is: if AI in camels will ever develop to be applicable on a large scale like AI is used today in cattle breeding. To this question my answer is no. Your numerous replies basically demonstrate only that you are unable to provide convincing answers to contradict such statement .

You also seem not having understood the statements in my last reply. The overwhelming majority of world camels are under kept under "pastoral free range conditions". Even if AI in camels would be available and easily applied it could not be used to "upgrade" pastoral camels productivity since such "upgraded" camels will not viable under "pastoral free range conditions". It is basically the same failing concept of people suggesting Maasai to keep Holstein-Frisian cows instead of their "unproductive" zebu cattle!

Of course please do continue to investigate AI in camels. The search of scientific knowledge is to be admired and is a noble effort.

Dear Davide, (hope you do not mind being addressed with your given name, after all I have known you in person and I know your professional experience with camels). You do not understand my arguments and since you are not stupid the reason is probably because of your very limited time (compared to mine, this is a fact not an opinion) spent with camels and among camel breeders.

Thank you for your warm wishes although looking back at my publication list I frankly think that they apply much more to you than to me. (did you read my march 2020 article on camel hybrids? Is the first and only one in english and written by 1 author only)

Please let me know when you will publish an article on a "successful simple method for camel AI in the field" or a book on camel husbandry, diseases, management. Till then let's just agree to disagree.

Thank you with agreeing with me

I think we should be careful with using terms such as "ever". The world is changing rapidly. I also don't think it would be fruitful to implement large-scale AI technology in pastoral herds where it might be much more efficient to use bulls directly.

Also in many dairy cattle herds, bulls are used in many farms, also in Sweden, where there is a high level of AI but it costs quite a lot, so some farmers keep a bull because it is cheaper and because they save a lot of work since the bull is an expert in finding cows in heat. :) Camel bulls are also experts in identifying cows who are prepared to accept the bulls.

Anyway, IF (I say if) there would be a shift towards much more industrialized, large scale camel milk production in some countries, AI might be much more interesting (and therefore more developed) in the future. Whether large-scale industrial dairy camel farms are positive from an animal welfare or resource perspective might be questioned, just as for dairy cattle.

The World is dynamic, camel production systems have incentive to change and increase productivity and returns. AI and other fertilisation techniques will be demanded more. UAE among other people countries leads in Camel research. An intensive Camel Research Centre will be a good start. Who takes the gauntlet?