Raising camels in America can look very different than camel farms in other countries. Despite the large size of our country, the numbers of camels remain relatively small. We estimate that there are around 5,000 camels in America. It is an estimate because at this time we do not have a formal registry, but that is something we are working on through the North American Camel Ranch Owners Association.

The cost of camels in America has been increasing in the last year and due to the small population, camels can be quite costly. They are nothing like the price tags that accompany the beauty queens or racing camels in countries such as Saudi or UAE, but as livestock goes camels can fetch a fair amount of money. As I asked around some of the breeders and buyers lately, it seems a young (1 year old male) costs $10,000 or more with females of the same age costing $14,000 or more. In the US, females are typically more expensive than males and camels can cost more if they are already trained to ride or be with the public.

There are several types of typical camel farms in America:

• There are a handful of camel milk dairies scattered around the US. These range in size, with the largest estimated to have nearly 200 camels. Most of these dairies produce milk to be sold as a food product by consumers, but there are also dairies that are only licensed to use their milk for products such as camel milk soap.


• There are a few camel farms that focus on breeding production and these can range in size up to about 70 camels. These camels owners breed their camels and then sell the offspring through exotic animal sales or private sales.


• Many camel farms are multi-species farms that have a small number of camels but a large range of animals that are considered exotics and are designed for tourism or family entertainment such as petting zoos or places to conduct parties, children’s educational programs or holiday events. A lot of American camel owners use their camels for these sorts of events or activities and many report the most lucrative time of the year is the weeks leading up to the Christian holiday, Christmas, where churches or communities hire camel owners to present their camels in nativity scenes, church programs or holiday markets.

While it may not always be considered best practice, it is not uncommon for American camel owners to have only one camel, maybe two. The camels are obtained because of novelty, for the tourism events mentioned previously, to be used at weddings or parties, or as pets.

There are a few camel owners who do unique activities with their camels, such as desert treks in Texas and a school in New York that added camels to their stable of animal assisted therapy.

As a camel owner in the US, it has been difficult to find other camel farms or owners that are like me, a working ranch with livestock and camels. There are not a lot of camel owners with a cattle or livestock background.

To my knowledge there is not a lot of camels used for meat production in the US. We have immigrant populations that seek camel meat, just as they seek camel milk. But due to the cost of camels, the small population in the US and some cultural norms, camel meat production is not inherent in the US and thus is typically imported from other countries.