rajasthan india – In the Jaisalmer district of the Indian desert state of Rajasthan, Jitu Singh’s camel stands silently chewing the leaves of the kejri tree.

Her calves occasionally suckle from their mother’s udder. Although the newborn is the newest member of Singh’s herd, the sadness is evident on his face. His sparkling eyes turned gloomy as he stared at the grazing camels.

When Jeetu, 65, was a teenager, his family had more than 200 camels. Today, that number is down to 25.

“When we were children, raising camels was nothing less than a competitive thing,” he told Al Jazeera. “I used to think that my camels should be prettier than the camels raised by my peers.”

He would groom them, apply mustard oil on them, trim their brown and black hair, and decorate them from head to tail with colorful beads. The camels then decorate the landscape with the symmetrical friezes they form when walking in herds, like “ships of the desert.”

“All of this is just a memory now,” he said. “I only keep camels now because I’m attached to them. Otherwise, they don’t get any financial benefit.”

To highlight the critical camel population, the number of camels around the world has increased from nearly 13 million in the 1960s to more than 35 million today in 2024, the International Year of the Camel, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) . This animal plays an important role in the lives of millions of families in more than 90 countries.

But in India, their numbers are declining dramatically – from nearly 1 million camels in 1961 to about 200,000 today. And the decline has been particularly dramatic in recent years.

The livestock census conducted by the Indian federal government in 2007 showed that Rajasthan is one of the few states in India that rears camels, with about 420,000 camels. In 2012, their population fell to about 325,000 people, and in 2019, their population dropped further to just over 210,000, a 35% reduction in seven years.

The decline in camel numbers is being felt across Rajasthan – India’s largest state.

The village of Anji Ki Dhani is about 330 kilometers (205 miles) from Jeetu’s home. In the 1990s, this small village was home to more than 7,000 camels. “Only 200 people are present now; the rest are extinct,” said Hanuwant Singh Sadri, who has been working on camel conservation for more than three decades.

In Dandi village in Barmer district, Bhanwarlal Chaudhary has lost nearly 150 camels since the early 2000s. Now he only has 30 left. As the 45-year-old was walking with his camel, one leaned towards him and kissed him.

“Camels are closely associated with our living language, cultural heritage and daily life,” Chowdhury said. “Without them, our language, our existence, is meaningless.”

The biggest legal blow of 2015

Camel breeders and experts have cited various reasons for the decline in camel numbers in India. Tractors replaced farm needs, while cars and trucks replaced roads to transport goods.

Camels are also struggling as pastures shrink. Since camels cannot be raised in corrals like cows or pigs, they must be left to graze in open areas – just like the jitu camels eat the leaves of the kejri tree.

“This kind of open-plan setup is very difficult to achieve now,” Sadri said.

But the biggest blow came in 2015, when the Rajasthan government under the Hindu-majority Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) passed the Rajasthan Camel Act (banning slaughter and regulating temporary migration or export).

The law prohibits the transportation, illegal possession and slaughter of camels. “Even decorating them can cause them harm because the definition of causing them harm is very loosely worded,” Chowdhury told Al Jazeera.

Penalties under the law range from six months to five years in prison and fines from 3,000 rupees ($35) to 20,000 rupees ($235). Unlike all other laws (in which a defendant is innocent until proven guilty), this law turns traditional precedent on its head.

“The burden of proving innocence lies with the person charged under the Act,” it reads.

With the implementation of the Act camel markets were outlawed – as were camel breeders if they intended to sell their animals. The buyer suddenly became a “smuggler” under the law.

The bill is based on the assumption that camel culling is the reason for the decline in camel numbers in Rajasthan. Chaudhry said it banned the transportation of camels to other states, arguing that it would serve three purposes: increase in camel numbers, increase livelihoods of breeders and stop camel slaughter.

“Well, it didn’t achieve the first two goals,” Chowdhury said.

“Suddenly, there were no buyers left.”

Sumit Dookia, an ecologist from Rajasthan who teaches at a university in New Delhi, raised questions with the government about the law.

He asked: “If a law aimed at restoring camel numbers is in effect, why are camel numbers still declining?”

Chaudhry has the answer. “We raise animals to sustain our lives,” he said, adding that raising such huge animals is not an easy task without a market or a fair price.

“The law comes into conflict with our traditional system, where we used to bring male camels to Pushkar, Nagore or Tirwara – the three largest camel fairs,” Sadri added.

Sadri said breeders used to make a lot of money for their camels at these shows.

“Before the law was passed, our camels were sold for anywhere from 40,000 rupees ($466) to 80,000 rupees ($932),” he said. “But after the government implemented the law in 2015, camels started being sold for a meager 500 rupees ($6) to 1,000 rupees ($12).”

“Suddenly, there were no buyers.”

So, have buyers lost interest? “No, they don’t,” said ecologist Dukia. “The only problem is they now fear for their lives.”

This is especially true, Sadri said, because almost all buyers at Pushkar, India’s largest camel trade fair, are Muslims. Targeting them is especially easy in such an environment anti-muslim hostility under the leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

“If Muslims eat camel meat, we don’t have any problem. If there are good slaughterhouses, the price of camels will only go up, thus incentivizing breeders to keep more and more camels,” he said.

“But the BJP doesn’t want to do that. It takes us out of the traditional market.”

“The law takes away our camel”

Since the Bharatiya Janata Party led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, Lynching of Muslims and Dalits Hindu vigilante protests against animal slaughter have grown exponentially. Dalits are at the lowest rung of India’s complex caste system.

“Judging from the situation in the country, buyers are scared and will not take the risk of camel transport,” Chowdhury said. “In this case, why are there still buyers? Who will buy these animals?”

Asked whether the law had contributed to the decline in the country’s camel population, Maneka Gandhi, a former minister in Modi’s cabinet who pushed for the law, said “the law has had no effect”, adding that “Muslims continue to smuggle” the animals of”.

Gandhi claimed that the law was “not implemented at all”. She said if the laws were properly implemented, the camel population would make a comeback.

But Narendra Mohan Singh, a 61-year-old retired bureaucrat who helped draft the law, disagrees.

“Look, there is something wrong with this law and we only found out about it after it passed and started affecting breeders. We had little time to prepare for it and the farmers who would actually be affected were not consulted when it was introduced and camel breeders,” said Singh, former deputy director of animal husbandry in the Rajasthan government.

“We were told to have a law for camels similar to cows and other cattle. But the law aimed at protecting camels ended up being counter-productive,” Singh added.

Aamir Ali, assistant professor at the School of Social Sciences at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, agreed with Singh.

“There are two strange aspects to the excessive focus on animals in Hindu (majority) politics,” he said. “First, it lacks an understanding of the nuances and complexities of issues like animal agriculture. Second, in its bizarre zeal for expressing concern for animals, it ultimately leads to the demonization and demonization of groups like Dalits and Muslims. Dehumanization.”

Meanwhile, the sun has set in Jaisalmer. Sitting on the ground by the campfire, Jitu thought of the newborn camel in his herd and asked, “Will the baby bring good luck to Rajasthan?”

Things are not looking good for Sadri and Singh.

Sadri said the BJP’s “short-sighted laws” continue to exacerbate the decline in camel numbers in Rajasthan.

“Organizations that promote animal welfare know nothing about large animals. They only have dogs and cats,” he said, his voice thick with anger.

“This law takes away our market and ultimately our camels. I won’t be shocked or surprised if there are no more camels in India in the next five or 10 years. It will be gone forever like the dinosaurs.”

Singer’s predictions for the future are almost as pessimistic. “If it doesn’t become extinct, it will end up being a zoo animal,” he said.