News in boxes: Kutch’s dwindling camel population
TOutch, in Gujarat, was once home to thousands of camels that roamed its forests and the Greater Rann, a salt marsh in the Thar Desert. Today, the animals are becoming increasingly rare, their numbers decreasing due to industrialization, habitat loss and grazing restrictions.
The decline is visible at the annual Bhed Mata camel fair in Kotda-Chakar, about 35 km from Bhuj, where camel numbers have declined dramatically over the decades. “Kutch is known for its Greater Rann and its symbolic animal is the camel,” says Hiralal Balwa, a veteran artist and image photographer from Bhuj.
He began attending the fair in the early 1980s and continued until the late 1990s. “There were thousands of camels,” he says, “so many that you couldn’t find a place to park a two-wheeler. I saw less than 200 at the fair this year.”
Lakhan Bhima Rabari, a camel herder from Sanosara village in Kutch, fears that the animals could disappear from the landscape altogether. “In the next 10 to 15 years, you will only find camels in photographs and videos,” says Mr Bhima.
Camels depend on tree leaves for food, unlike other livestock that have a wider variety of food sources. Forests also provide them with shelter, so the loss of these habitats is a big threat, adds the herdsman. He also points to the poor returns that pastoralists receive for camel milk, which he claims is used to make drugs for diabetes and other diseases. While trying to ensure a fair price for milk, he says, medicines made from it are being sold at high prices.
At 45,674 km2, Kutch is India’s largest district, larger than states like Haryana and Kerala. However, its vast landscape was not enough to protect the camel population from constant decline.
According to official records, the camel population in the district reached 17,639 in the 1992 census, the highest figure on record. “After 2010, these numbers started to decline,” says Ramesh Bhatti, program director of Sahjeevan, a Bhuj-based NGO.
Mr Bhatti attributes the decline to industrialization and the diversion of land for irrigation, solar and wind farms and the mining of brown coal, bauxite, kaolin and gypsum. “These activities have depleted the forests in the district,” he adds, “and the spread of the invasive species Prosopis juliflora has further exacerbated the problem.”
“During the princely rule, the forest areas were freely accessible to camel herders for grazing. But for the last 30 to 40 years, the Gujarat forest department has restricted the free grazing of camels in Kutch,” says Mr Bhatti.
Photo: Vijay Soneji
Aerial view of Kutchi camels grazing near Tappar Dam, Mundra Taluka of Kutch District, Gujarat.
Photo: Vijay Soneji
A Kutchi camel nursing her baby while other camels graze in the evening at Tappar village in Kutch district, Gujarat.
Photo: Vijay Soneji
Kutchi camel Rabari takes his Kutchi camels to graze in Sanosara village early in the morning in Kutch district of Gujarat.
Photo: Vijay Soneji
Aerial view of grasslands near Tappar Dam, Mundra Taluka of Kutch District, Gujarat.
Photo: Vijay Soneji
Rabari tying the front leg of a camel in a temporary lock to allow him to inoculate the camel with a vaccine in Sanosara village in Kutch district, Gujarat.
Photo: Vijay Soneji
Downtime – An early morning scene before the camels head out to graze in the village of Kotda Chakar in the Kutch district of Gujarat.
Photo: Vijay Soneji
Rabari milking a Kutchi camel next to a camel drinking milk at the Bhed Mata camel fair early morning in Kotda Chakar village of Kutch district, Gujarat.
Photo: Vijay Soneji
Camels catching the morning sun as they head out to graze in the early hours of the morning in Sanosara village in Kutch district of Gujarat.
Photo: Vijay Soneji
Kutchi Rabari camel herders preparing a cup of tea while milking and grazing Kutchi camels at the Bhed Mata camel fair in the early hours of the morning at Kotda Chakar village in Kutch district, Gujarat.
Photo: Vijay Soneji
Kutchi camel herder Rabari hands over camel milk while a milkman tests its fat at Sarhad Camel Milk Dairy in Kotda-Chakar village of Kutch district, Gujarat.
Published – 25 Oct 2026 09:45 IST