Pollution, littering threaten camels´ lives

Throughout history, camels have been essential to the Arab world. They serve as food, friends, a means of transport and sometimes, even war machines. But over the past few decades, their lives have been threatened by increased pollution and littering.

Camels is the most adaptable animal on earth. They roam the desert and can eat virtually anything to survive.

This also means they eat things that are harmful, even deadly, such as rubbish.

According to recent scientific reports, one in two camels dies from ingesting rubbish in the Gulf region.

11-year-old South African boy Cameron Oliver has launched a campaign to help to end the crisis. He hopes people will learn the severity of the problem before it's too late.

Cameron Oliver, Camel Campaign Founder said "This is all the plastic and litter that's inside a camel that they ate, but it's all calcified. That means it's gone all hard. There's no litter outside the stomach, but inside there's so much pieces of nail, litter bags, everything. This would take two of three days to calcify and a camel could hold up to 60 kilos inside a camel's stomach."

He said a slow and painful death often follows.

The campaign includes T-shirts, hats and bumper stickers, and a specially designed website. Cameron Oliver's message to people is to stop killing camels through littering.

Many people support the boy's efforts.

Dr. Alex Tinson, Campaign Supporter said "Everyone is talking about global warming and expanding deserts and decreasing water resources, if we could take one animal into the 22nd century, for me, the camel would be it."

With supporters like Dr Tinson, Cameron Oliver organized his first desert clean up day, which he hopes will be the first of many.

He hopes his efforts will help preserve one of the Arab world's most important animals. After all, these animals help define Arab heritage.