Conservation

In the coming decades we will undoubtedly witness one of the greatest extinction events in the history of the earth, as humanity's consumptive chickens come home to roost. It is easy to convey the environmental, economic, and moral reasoning behind trying as hard as we can to preserve as much of our world's biodiversity as we can, but how do we go about saving an animal entirely domesticated?

This is not a research question of the NRCC per se, but it is a concern that pervades the Centre. So long as there are remote desert farming communities the camel will remain necessary, but how long will such an existence remain feasible in the face of climate change, economic growth, and urbanization? The camel is extinct in the wild, except for a few thousand feral in Australia. Other than milk and meat production (neither of which is likely to catch on), token military use, and racing in the Gulf, it lacks a major raison d'etre outside of traditional herding. Is it our responsibility to save it?