مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - The camel (Camelus dromedarius) produced three times less methane than cattle receiving the same feeding ration

Abstract :

The Australian Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency announced that a camel produces methane equivalent to one ton of carbon dioxide a year, making the animal one of the country’s biggest greenhouse gases emitters. In order to stop pollution, a plan was proposed to shoot the camels from a helicopter or round them up and send them to the slaughterhouse. As scientists working on camel physiology and human beings dealing with animal welfare and protection, we developed a trial to measure camel methane emissions and compared them to dairy cattle receiving the same amount of feed. Seven Holstein cows (average weight 350 kg) and seven she-camels (average weight 330 kg) were used in this study. All animals were not pregnant and are in the latest stage of lactation with very limited milk production. Animals were housed in boxes and fed individually the same ration composed of 3 kg of barley and 2 kg of lucerne hay daily at 9 a.m. After eating, methane emissions measurements were carried out for 2 hours on several periods per day by using a face mask open circuit system. The results showed that the camel eliminated most of the methane by eructation with an average of 18 (eructations) emission cycles per hour. In cattle, the number of emission cycles averaged 54 eructations per hour. Methane emission from the camel was estimated to average 67 liters per day corresponding to 15.2 liters per kg of dry matter intake while dairy cattle methane emissions was estimated to average 194 liters per day corresponding to 42.2 liters per kg of dry matter intake. The present study showed clearly that dairy cattle produced three times more methane than camel when the two species received the same diet. Some digestive and metabolic particularities of each species may explain the difference. Other solutions to reduce the greenhouse gases should be proposed other than the eradication of the camel population of Australia.