Biotech Updates

Birth of the First White Camel Excites Breeders

April 29, 2011

The birth of white camel calf brought exhilaration to the breeders of the National Research Center on Camel (NRCC) in New Delhi, India. According to the director of the Center, Dr. N. V. Patil, the birth was very unusual since the calf is not albino and it came from the Merawi breed. The Center plans to monitor this white camel and will try to use the camel in the breeding program to know whether they can get similar type of "white" trait in the progeny. "There will be only a 50 percent chance that its progeny may also be white", he added.

The camels from this breed have the ability to produce more milk than the others. However, domestication of the breed decreases and so does the camel's population due to the loss of its traditional role in transport and farming.

Read the rest of the story at http://www.icar.org.in/en/node/2800.