CAMEL TALK TOPIC OF CONFERENCE IN CAPE

With more than 18 million camels in Africa and Asia, a lot of people in those countries have come to like camel's milk."They have large camel dairies in Egypt, Israel and some other countries," said Jim Hale of the American Camel Conference. "Camel's milk plays an important role people's diets there."Camel's milk and camel's fiber are among items to be discussed during the second annual American Camels College and Training Conference being held this week in Cape Girardeau. More than 60 camel breeders, owners and trainers attended the first session of the conference at Drury Lodge Monday. More are expected today."Halloween delayed some visitors," said Hale. The conference, which features experts discussing topics on camel medicine, breeding and care, continues at Drury Lodge at 9 a.m. and moved to the 5-H Animal Ranch in Cape Girardeau County for live camel demonstrations this afternoon.

Hale, who works part of the year in Sidney, Mont., and his dad, Dave Hale, who with his wife, Maxine, operate 5-H Ranch, helped organize the camel college and conference in 1998.

The Hales became involved with camels, llamas and other exotic animals more than 30 years ago. The Hales and their camels participate in parades and fairs throughout the year.

Monday's topics centered on camel behavior, state and federal regulations affecting camels and special restraint facilities for camels, said Hale.

Jim and Dave Hale; Dr. Murray E. Fowler, chief of zoological medicine at the University of California School of Veterinary Medicine; and Bill Rivers of Winchester, Calif., conducted a round- table discussion on newborn camel care and hand-rearing of young camels. Rivers is a longtime supplier of camels for use in movies.

Today, Dr. Ahmed Tibary of Morocco, who teaches at Pullman, Wash., Veterinarian College, will discuss milk production."We're looking at the possibilities of a camel dairy or two in the United States," said Jim Hale. "A camel dairy recently opened in Germany and is doing well. With the many Asian and African visitors to the U.S., we frequently receive requests for camel's milk."Nadine Troll of U.S. Camel Fiber will have some examples of clothing made from camel fiber. Troll will discuss the camel fiber industry about 10:15 a.m. Wednesday at Drury Lodge. Susan Laughlin Perez of Southern California, who is writing a book on camel history, will discuss camel history at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

All of the activity will take place at the 5-H Ranch Thursday, Friday and Saturday, where visitors will have an opportunity to work with camels. Another subject to be discussed during the training school at the ranch will be camel racing and how to prepare camels for racing. Camel racing is big, especially in India, Arabia and Australia, said Jim Hale, who has visited some of these areas and watched races. Camel racing is growing in the United States, said Hale.

Although camels are considered exotic animals in the United States, they are work animals in many parts of the world. They stand 5 feet to 7 feet tall and weigh 500 to more than 1,500 pounds. They are used to pull plows and turn water wheels to irrigate fields. They also provide transportation for people and freight.