Camels generally have a friendly appearance and a calm nature despite occasional displays of short temper that may cause them to kick or spit.
But a study just published in a UAE scientific journal unearths an unexpected side to the dromedary, revealing it to sometimes be deceitful and aggressive.
Under cover of darkness, bulls can engage in duplicitous and violent behaviour to secure a mate, actions that can cause distress to the females in the herd.
The Saudi Arabian scientists who carried out this research say it is unlike anything they have seen with other creatures. The first author of the study, Prof Mohamad Abdulmohsen, said he was surprised by what was seen.
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“Pretending and deception I’ve noticed only in camels,” said Prof Abdulmohsen, who has also studied the behaviour of other large farm animals. “Other animals don’t pretend. They follow their needs in a straight way.”
While the results of the study are of scientific interest, they could also offer practical lessons. They could be useful to camel farmers who want to reduce stress to male and female camels, possibly improving low conception rates.
The study in the Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture is entitled, Evaluation of Mating and the Causes of Noises at Night in Small Dromedary Camel Herds, and is written by four members of the College of Veterinary Medicine at King Faisal University in Hofuf, eastern Saudi Arabia.
To understand what was causing night-time noises, the researchers took detailed observations of camel behaviour at three private farms in eastern Saudi Arabia.
Working in three-hour shifts during the breeding season, which runs from late October to early February, they watched day and night to ensure they would not miss anything.
Of most interest was the way in which, when there were relatively few cows in a herd, the bulls would find a way to mate with unwilling females.
To do this, they would lie down next to a cow and pretend to be asleep, lulling her into a false sense of security and sleep, before taking advantage of the situation.
“It’s the first record that camels pretend they are resting,” Prof Abdulmohsen said. “The male camel is waiting for her to go deeply to sleep. He stops ruminating, stops jaw movements, then watches her.”
Bulls also forcefully took cows. The scientists found this tended to happen when there were fewer than 50 to 80 females in a herd with one male.
The females try to resist, moving about and making loud grunting noises, which cause the disturbance often heard at night.
Other methods to try to shake off the male can lead to costly consequences to the farmer.
“If the male tries to force her and she doesn’t accept him she will bite him at the knee joint,” Prof Abdulmohsen said.
The cows will also curve their head backwards and bite the male in the front of the neck.
Biting can result in inflammation of the joint, which could lead to arthritis, a condition that the study leader said was expensive to treat.
In the paper, the authors describe the forced mounting of female camels as rape, but experts have in the past urged caution about drawing any parallels between what in the animal kingdom is termed rape, and rape in humans.
In a 1989 paper entitled, Rape in Nonhuman Animal Species; Definitions, Evidence and Implications, Dr Craig Palmer suggested that definitions should not provoke "unwarranted implications about human rape".
“Behaviour meeting the definition of rape exists in several non-human species. However, comparisons of these species do not provide clear implications for either proximate or ultimate explanations of human rape,” he wrote.
The taking of cows by stealth or force is less likely to occur in the wild, Prof Abdulmohsen said, because males would spend much of their time preoccupied with other things, such as finding enough to eat.
“The energy will be displaced,” he said. “They will use the energy they’re getting from food. The problem will only appear when they’re kept in farms under the control of human beings.”
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Abaya trends
The utilitarian robe held dear by Arab women is undergoing a change that reveals it as an elegant and graceful garment available in a range of colours and fabrics, while retaining its traditional appeal.
FIXTURES
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Friday
Saint-Etienne v Montpellier (10.45pm)
Saturday
Monaco v Caen (7pm)
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Nice v Strasbourg (5pm)
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Marseille v Paris Saint-Germain (11pm)
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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8 traditional Jamaican dishes to try at Kingston 21
- Trench Town Rock: Jamaican-style curry goat served in a pastry basket with a carrot and potato garnish
- Rock Steady Jerk Chicken: chicken marinated for 24 hours and slow-cooked on the grill
- Mento Oxtail: flavoured oxtail stewed for five hours with herbs
- Ackee and salt fish: the national dish of Jamaica makes for a hearty breakfast
- Jamaican porridge: another breakfast favourite, can be made with peanut, cornmeal, banana and plantain
- Jamaican beef patty: a pastry with ground beef filling
- Hellshire Pon di Beach: Fresh fish with pickles
- Out of Many: traditional sweet potato pudding
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Top 10 most polluted cities
- Bhiwadi, India
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- Delhi, India
- Jaunpur, India
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- Noida, India
- Bahawalpur, Pakistan
- Peshawar, Pakistan
- Bagpat, India
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
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Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
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NO OTHER LAND
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
