Cairo: Saudi authorities have seized dozens of camels of undocumented origin as part of efforts to regulate the thriving sector of the popular animal in the kingdom.
Inspectors from the Ministry of the Environment, Water and Agriculture in Riyadh have recently seized 109 camels of unknown origin and removed 14 unlicensed sheds that were illegally used in breeding camels and milking them, the Saudi news agency SPA reported.
Large amounts of milk offered for sale by irregular vendors were, meanwhile, confiscated during the clampdown.
The inspection tours targeted irregular vendors of camel milk at markets and on roads.
“These tours are part of field efforts made to eliminate the phenomenon of haphazard sale of milk that is often linked to illegal labour,” the ministry’s branch in Riyadh said.
In recent months, Saudi Arabia, home to a large community of expatriate workers, has stepped up nationwide campaigns against violators of the country’s labour, residency and border security laws and arrested thousands of illegals.
Saudi authorities have repeatedly urged owners of camels to register them, saying that undocumented camels are not allowed to be sold, bought or have their ownership transferred. Failure to register camels makes their owners liable to penalties.
Registering camels helps set up a data base facilitating their sale and ownership transfer as well as providing information on their numbers, species, geographical distribution and giving their owners access to services.
Last year, Saudi Arabia started a project for documenting strains of camels, using DNA tests to preserve rare species of the animal. Registration, conducted on an ad-hoc portal, entails different data on camels including the DNA.
The project aims to document all camels in the kingdom where they are closely linked to heritage.
The animal has long been dubbed as the “ship of the desert”, being the lifeline for desert dwellers.
There are around 1.8 million camels with a market value of over SR50 billion in Saudi Arabia, according to official figures.
