Camel herders across Africa are witnessing their animals suffer and die as summer temperatures frequently top 50C, causing blisters, burns, and rising mortality rates.
Camel Deaths Surge Across Africa
In Ethiopia's Afar region, 40-year-old herder Ali Umer said: "I can see my camels suffering from extreme heat. They get blisters on their feet, their eyes become watery, and the hot sand burns their skin and eats up their hair when they sit." He added that within the past month alone he lost eight camel calves due to extreme heat, according to the BBC.
North Africa and the Horn of Africa are home to roughly 80% of the world's single-humped dromedaries. In Somalia, research shows drought-related camel deaths are impacting nearly 46% of camel-owning households, with mortality rates reaching 73% in the northern Sool region. In Kenya's Marsabit county, local vets report a 15% surge in camel deaths over the last two years due to hyperthermia and rapid infection rates.
Climate Data and Expert Warnings
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), North Africa warmed at 0.43C per decade between 1991 and 2025, the fastest rate on the continent, with multiple nations regularly breaking 50C. While camels naturally regulate body temperature to handle heat up to 40C, experts warn prolonged exposure above 41C to 45C destroys them at a cellular level.
Professor Abdelmadjid Chehma of the University of Ghardaia said: "Prolonged day-and-night heat above 41C to 45C directly attacks their cells. Their immune system suffers... cells struggle to repair themselves and end up destroying themselves." Extreme heat stress causes a camel's metabolism to plummet, triggering lethargy, appetite loss, muscle wasting, and weight loss. Milk yields crash, devastating pastoral communities, while the physical toll leads to kidney failure, parasite outbreaks, and deadly infections.
Herders Forced to Migrate
The crisis has become so severe that Ethiopian pastoralists are abandoning historic northern grazing lands, migrating south for shade and water. Water prices in parts of Somalia have exploded by over 2,000%. Professor Chehma warned: "While camels remain the livestock herders' last line of defence against the desert, the unprecedented intensity of current heatwaves directly threatens their vital functions - turning this historically resilient animal into a climate victim."
