Camel deaths spark anger in Saudi Arabia

Riyadh: Camel breeders in Saudi Arabia are blaming the government for "toxic fodder" that killed thousands of camels over the past month.

"Officials of the agriculture ministry have remained arms-folded vis-a-vis this unprecedented disaster," camel owner Rashed Khalaf Bin Mithqal told the daily Al Watan.

In what the local press have described as a "national tragedy", at least 2,000 camels have died in Riyadh since early August.

Many owners said the deaths have been caused by the bran fed to the animals instead of the more expensive barley, the daily Al Hayat reported.

However, the agriculture ministry blamed "the wrong methods of stocking bran."

Agriculture Minister Fahd bin Abdul Rahman Balghnaim told Al Watan that preliminary results showed the bran was contaminated by poisonous fungi.

The affected camels reportedly lose control of their movements and suffer a cerebral haemorrhage and paralysis, an expert told Al Eqtisadiah daily.