Sudan: Disgusting! Barbaric camel herders! This is animal cruelty! Why is this allowed to happen??

Article by AFP and ALISHA BUAYA FOR MAILONLINE

Published: 13 July 2019 13:18

1k shares. 62 comments

Sudan's camel trade industry has remained steady part despite the nation's recent political upheaval that saw Omar al-Bashir ousted after three decades of ruling the country with an iron fist.

Traders from across African nation descend daily on the El Molih camel market, in the city of Omdurman, west of the capital Khartoum, to buy and sell herds of the desert animal.  

Some camels are sent to slaughter houses for meat, while superior breeds are exported to Gulf countries such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates to take part in multi-million pound races. 

Camel traders from across Sudan descend daily on the El Molih camel market, in the city of Omdurman, west of the capital Khartoum, to buy and sell herds of the desert animal. 

Transporting the animal is a difficult task for the traders who have to use a mobile crane to move them on to trucks.

Photographs for a recent market day shows camels being harnessed to a crane with its front and hind legs bound to restrict its movement.

The desert animals are then carefully lifted to the back of rigs bound for Egypt, Israel or Gulf nations. 

The camel's legs are bound together to restrict its movement while it is being lifted up by a crane that is moving it to the back of a truck

The desert animals are then carefully lifted to the back of rigs bound for Egypt, Israel or Gulf nations

The price of each camel depends on what purpose the animal is sold for. Some camels are sent to slaughter houses for meat 

A camel sold for meat can be sold between 60,000 to 90,000 Sudanese pounds (£1,058 to £1,587)

The price of each camel depends on what purpose the animal is sold for.

A camel sold for meat can be sold between 60,000 to 90,000 Sudanese pounds (£1,058 to £1,587).

But the camels destined for racing in the Gulf nations can be sold for as much as 1.5 million Sudanese pounds (£26,447) each. 

Superior camel breeds are exported to Gulf countries such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates to take part in multi-million pound races

Camels destined for racing in the Gulf nations can be sold for as much as 1.5 million Sudanese pounds (£26,447) each

In this image a herder tends to a camel with its legs bound, ready to be board to the back of a truck after being sold 

A camel is pictured sitting on its bound legs as another camel behind it growls at one of the herders as it is being lifted by the crane

Herders pictured here adjust the harness straps around a camel before it is lifted on to the back of a truck

Following al-Bashir's ousting in April, many camel traders have been oblivious to the country's biggest political upheaval in decades.

Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed, a camel seller, said: 'With or without Bashir, this country is just the same for us.' 

'All we are interested in is whether the price of livestock goes up or down,' he added.

In this image a herder (pictured in the centre) ducks for cover as a grumpy camel fights the crane lifting it up in the air, while another camel tries to buck its legs  

A herder watches on as another angry camel tries to fight the crane as it lifts it up in the air to be boarded on the back of a truck 

A camel tries to free itself despite its legs being bound

Ali Habiballah, 52, another camel trader, said: 'What protests? We have all that we need in the desert -- water, food and livestock, we don't have any demands.' 

His son added: 'We don't care about politics. I don't even go to Khartoum.'

Sudan was first rocked by a political crisis since December 19, when protests erupted against the tripling of bread prices by the then government of Bashir.

A camel trader sits on the hump of a sitting camel at El-Molih camel market

Seven camels are on show by this trader looking to sell the herd

[End of article]

THE MAJORITY OF THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS POSTED AT THE ABOVE U.K. ARTICLE ONLINE ARE FROM THE U.K.

- Feel really sorry for some of those camels, some very underweight and visible scars. It must be frustrating for them to have their legs tied up and made to stay in that position unable to escape their situation and no food or water. Then to be lifted up like that must be very frightening and stressful, poor animals.

- Horrible people. Animal abuse is sin.

- Poor creatures.

- That's cruel breaks my heart.

- Grumpy? The animals would be distressed and terrified. These people are impervious to the feelings of animals, they always have been.

- Most of those poor wretched creatures will be slaughter in the most inhumane way, camel meat is common in that part of the world.

- Dont get the hump. Thats pretty awfully considering thier horrible fate. Scummers.

- They will be slaughtered for food the ritual Halal way. ...they will suffer more fear & pain..

- This makes me so sad. We are the most horrible creatures on the planet.

- Indeed we are.

- Look at the way their legs are tied. You'd complain, too if someone all but hog tied you. Poor things.

- Trussed up like a dead turkey and then craned onto a lorry I'd be pi ssed off too!

- That's So Cruel. Those creatures are so beautiful. That picture broke my heart. It looked so painful too 

- The way we treat animals on this earth is appalling. Re: dog meat festival (story I could not read), bull fighting, rhinoceros poaching, etc.

- The way they treat human beings why would anyone expect anything different for camels?

- This awful practice and bad animal treatment in general often governs the camel trade. The animals are can be obstinate and mean spirited; theyre strong and have lots of endurance, so theyre hard to *govern.*. Theyre seen as commodities like our pickup trucks, so the cranes seem like the right thing to resort to. This is a country where male overseers use whips on women farm workers if theyre perceived to be picking too slowly. I think the camels got the better deal.

- Ever heard of a ramp? They could have walked onto the truck themselves.

- Deplorable.

- Grumpy? Might have something to do with having their legs tied. Or just being starved and tortured in general. I might be a tad grumpy myself.

- I have a feeling this animal will be extinct soon, this is cruel.

- This is barbaric! Horrific treatment, it makes me sick.

- Notice ALL THE SCARS on these animals...they have really been through it! Poor things!

- These people have ZERO respect for Animals, women and children...abusing all. It's so disgusting.

- These animals take 2 hours to die when ritually slaughtered.

- They have no feelings for animals ...if the animals can't work or be eaten they have no use for them.

- This is disgusting. Please dont use these camel rides. You are contributing to their cruelty.

- Poor poor creatures - I cannot believe the DM can make light of this with a bad pun for a headline? You should be ashamed of yourselves.

- Camels are awesome gifts from God that are a benefit to the people. 

- This is horrific and not a joking matter DM. Those poor camels. It's abuse. Change the headline. It's not funny.

- Disgusting! This is animal cruelty, plain and simple!

- Why is this allowed to happen??

- Animal cruelty alive and well all around the world. Disgusting.

- Poor camels! I'm not surprised that they look so unhappy, tied up then thrown about like rubbish. These are living creatures for god sake!! :(

- Heartbreaking. Animal cruelty makes my blood boil.

- Is this supposed to be a funny article?? Some of those animals look underfed and ab.used. The only animals in the pictures are the handlers. Too many outdated articles by the Mail in recent days. Did they pull this article from the 80s archive?

- Seen what happens to them and it's awful.

- This is horrible. PLEASE if anyone does go abroad for any reason, NEVER ride camels or elephants or any other tourist animal transport like donkeys, asses or mules etc.. These animals are rarely looked after, cruelly treated with beatings and often deprived of sufficient medical care, food and water. Just use your feet or hire something with wheels not legs. There is no excuse these days, in the age of the internet where such cruel practices can be easily be researched, to ride living transport in ignorance of the truth. Never go to other entertainments involving use of animals either (e.g, circuses, races or elephant polo etc.) or give money to anyone using an animal as a prop to beg either (e.g, snake charmers, harnessed monkeys etc.) The more you do your bit to stop fuelling this industry the more likely the locals will need to make their money differently.

- Absolutely disgusting those poor animals!

- Thats awful! Poor camel looks in great distress.

- The straps are evenly spreading the weight out. These camels are fine.

- I imagine that's rather painful & frightening to those poor camels. Get it together people!

- Send peta over there see how they do compared to protesting chicken plants If no one caught it those are going to food processing.

- Poor things.

- Mobile crane? Your lack of knowledge and good journalism astounds me. Free lesson: it's a loader with a fork attachment.

- The media celebrates this atrocious behavior.

- This is horrific. They aren't "grumpy", they are terrified!!!!

- Poor animals.

- They are not grumpy they are terrified, why report it this way? Just plain cruelty and abuse

- Feel really sorry for some of those camels, some very underweight and visible scars. It must be frustrating for them to have their legs tied up and made to stay in that position unable to escape their situation and no food or water. Then to be lifted up like that must be very frightening and stressful, poor animals.

- You'd never ever get away with treating farm animals like that here (although God knows they did long enough in UK and IRL)(live exports a total disgrace as well). Don't know why we tolerate it elsewhere in countries with whom we do biz.

- DO NOT be so nave, farm animals are treated appallingly her and everywhere else !!!

- This is awful!

- Dreadful cruelty. Poor camels!

- That's terrible poor things.

- Cruel practice.

- Camel doesn't look too happy.

- So much suffering !

SOURCE: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7243679/Camel-traders-use-mobile-cranes-animals-trucks-sold-market-Sudan.html

The Mysteries of Sudan's Meroe, an empire on the Nile - Exhibition at The Louvre Paris March 26 - Sept 6, 2010

© M. Baud
Les pyramides de la necropole royale nord de Meroe

Meroe, an empire on the Nile
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Exhibition from 26 March to 06 September 2010

During this first exhibition of Meroe, the capital of a powerful empire located on the shores of the Nile, two hundred works illustrate the grandeur of this ancient civilization that combines African influences, Egyptian and Greco-Roman

Located in Sudan, two hundred kilometers north of Khartoum today, the city of Meroe, the capital of the kingdom, is known for its pyramids for kings and queens who have dominated the region between 270 BC and 350 AD

Consisting mainly of loans from museums in Khartoum - the famous gilded bronze statue of a king archer, British Museum, World Museum and the Museum of Liverpool Garstang, museums in Munich, Berlin and Leiden, the exhibition brings together about two hundred works that evoke the originality and power of the empire of Meroe.

The main topics are everyday life, crafts, social systems, the kings and their symbols of power, the role of queens, known as the candaces, cults exist alongside the Egyptian Amun and the Greek Dionysos , the afterlife as conceived by the people of Meroe.

Another section is devoted to the rediscovery of the ruins of the pyramids of Meroe in 1821 by Frederick Cailliaud, as well as archaeological excavations since 2007 Mouweis, site of the Empire heart, by the Department of Antiquities. A selection of objects found during the last three years reflects the action on the ground by the Louvre.

The exhibition has the main sponsorship of Deloitte's sponsorship partner of Ipsen and sponsorship from Lafarge.

In media partnership with Le Parisien, Connaissance des Arts, France 5 and France Info.

Commissioner (s): Guillemette Andreu-Lanoë, Michel Baud and Aminata Sackho-Autissier, Department of Egyptian Antiquities, Musée du Louvre



© Jürgen Liepe
Statue d'un roi archer conservee au Musee national du Soudan Khartoum, provenant de tabo sur I'lle d'Argo

The Mysteries of Meroe
by SOUREN MELIKIAN
The New York Times News Service

PARIS — Agatha Christie could have invented the story. Imagine another Egypt, with a marked black African component. This is Meroe, in present-day Sudan. In art, ancient Egyptian deities appear alongside others, unknown elsewhere. The Meroitic cursive script has been deciphered, revealing that it transcribes an African language. It is related to others spoken today, like Taman in parts of Darfur and Chad, Nyima in the Sudanese Nuba mounts, or Nubian in upper Egypt and Sudan. For the moment though, it is only beginning to be partially understood. Go see the latest on “Méroé, un empire sur le Nil” at the Louvre until Sept. 6.

In the last three years, archaeological discoveries have given a new face to an enigmatic culture that already intrigued Western explorers 250 years ago. In 1772, the Scotsman James Bruce caught sight of broken obelisks and barely discernible traces of pyramids as he traveled back from the source of the Blue Nile. These, he reckoned, had to be the remains of Meroe, known to Ancient Greek historians.

It was the Frenchman Frédéric Caillaud who, on the morning of April 25, 1822, first saw “a host of pyramids.” He accurately drew and described these in his book “A Trip to Meroe on the White River,” published in 1826. The consequences were disastrous. Antique hunters rushed to loot the site.

In 1834, Giuseppe Ferlini destroyed several pyramids. As he blew up one of these, the Italian dealer laid hands on a fantastic treasure that turned out to have belonged to Kandake (Queen) Amanishakheto. The priceless historical documentation that a proper archaeological investigation would have yielded was pulverized by the explosion and the objects were sold to museums in Munich in 1839, and Berlin in 1844.

Eventually, archaeologists stepped in. The Prussian Karl Richard Lepsius, who conducted a three-year-long campaign, produced an exemplary study of the standing monuments.

In the 20th century, a mission funded by Harvard University and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts worked out the chronological succession of the Kushite rulers of Meroe. Bronzes and ivories came to light, as well as gold jewels inlaid with mother-of-pearl and semi-precious stones that had been overlooked by looters in damaged tombs, and others preserved in funerary caches that had escaped destruction.

More important, the American expedition led by George Reisner opened up a new chapter of cultural history. No one had expected Greek and Roman objects to be found deep in black Africa. The northern necropolis of Meroe yielded a wine vessel in the form of an Amazon figure riding a rearing horse and holding a pouring vessel of the type called rhyton. This is a fifth-century B.C. piece, signed by Sotades, a potter from Athens. Stylistically reminiscent of the Parthenon marble riders, the artefact, fit for kings, was found in a royal tomb. A Roman silver wine cup of the first century A.D. from Italy turned up in the landfill of another pyramid.

In the last three years, dozens of objects beggaring belief have shown that the Meroitic Kingdom was in contact with most northern and eastern Mediterranean lands. Wine was imported in amphoras of the common pottery type found along the shores of the French Riviera. A precious glass flask with a marvered pattern, alternately turquoise and black, that is typical of the finest Syrian production were recovered at Sedeinga.

The greater surprise is the culture of Meroe itself, derived from Ancient Egypt and yet profoundly different.

Art here says more than the incompletely decrypted texts in the syllabic script adapted from the Egyptian demotic (i.e. popular) alphabet.

A tall beaker in blue glass painted with polychrome scenes deals with a very Egyptian theme. Offerings are brought to the god Osiris and an inscription in golden capitals urges in Greek — the language imposed on Egypt after Alexander’s conquest in the fourth century B.C. — “Drink and may you live [long].” The cartoon-like humor makes one wonder whether this might be of Meroitic rather than Egyptian make. Either way, it points to a distinctive Meroitic love of a comical touch in serious subjects.

A sense of fun is conveyed by countless Meroitic objets d’art. The small head of a ruler in turquoise frit found on the urban site of Meroe is unlikely to have been molded by the potter with a flattering intention. The puffed-out cheeks, the thick lips and globular eyes make it a perfect three-dimensional cartoon.

This ironical strain was cultivated from early times on. A turquoise frit mask, which may have once been part of an amphora, depicts a woman (rather than a man as suggested in the exhibition book) with a laugh on her closed lips. It is reminiscent of fifth-century B.C. Cypriot sculpture, with which it may be contemporary.

Derision crept into the most solemn scenes carved in sandstone on the Egyptian model. Queen Amanishakheto, receiving the breath of life on a stele from Naga dating from the late first century B.C. or early first century A.D., seems to be amused. The goddess, too, gives the impression of enjoying the fun of it all, whether or not this was the artist’s intended message. Greater drollery is conveyed by the apish look of the ram-headed god Amon excavated at Djabal Barkal. The body, carved out of granite, has the hieratic posture of early Egyptian art but the animal head has a human expression of repressed hilarity. The intention to belie the austerity demanded by the cannon seems clear.

If any doubts remain about the comical effects sought in much of Meroitic art, painted pottery should dispel them. A beaker from the urban site of Meroe is decorated with a frieze of raised cobras, their tails rhythmically wiggling and their dilated eyes appearing to express concern about the precarious balance of the solar disks perched on their heads. The scene would not look out of place in the French satirical weekly “Le Canard Enchaîné.”

Meroitic humor went together with somber Expressionism. The monumental statue of the god Sebiomeker discovered in the Temple of Isis at Meroe has the hieratic posture of Egyptian gods, but everything else is alien to Egypt. The ill-formed rigid limbs and the wide-eyed expression of distress give it a curious modernity.

A strange development in Meroitic art around the second or third century A.D. led to a kind of Cubist Expressionism. The head of a man excavated at Argin is its ultimate masterpiece. The angular geometricism and the extreme simplification parallels a similar trend in the art of Ancient Yemen around that time. The exhibition book, edited by Michael Baud, does not mention the fact, which may reflect contacts between Meroe and the Arabian peninsula.

Many components undoubtedly went into the brew of Meroitic culture. The exhibition book deals with Meroe as if it had been one nation modeling itself on Egypt, with some black African input. The human reality may have been much more complex.

The African contribution is evident in pots such as the stunning black earthenware jar with bulls stylized to near abstraction. Black African ethnic types are represented in a variety of styles, ranging from sophisticated figuration in bas reliefs of the late first or early second century A.D. to artefacts that reproduce Hellenistic models handled in the simplified somber Expressionist manner of the third to fourth century A.D. Such is a scented oil flask from el-Kadata on loan from Boston.

But we know nothing about society in Meroe. The people who molded around the first or second century A.D. the prehistoric looking figures from Muweis and the western metropolis at Meroe; the bronze makers who cast during the same period the small bust of a queen with black African features found in the Temple of Amon at el-Hassa; and the sculptor who carved the bas-relief of Isis in Egyptian style for King Amanitenmomide may have belonged to very different human groups.

The day a bilingual text sufficiently long to give at last a key to the Meroitic language turns up surprises are to be expected. The latest discoveries displayed at the Louvre suggest that it might not be too far off.

Méroé, un empire sur le Nil. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Through Sept. 6.

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SUDAN: Saving animals to save lives - Radio programmes advise farmers on what to do if their animals are sick

SUDAN: Saving animals to save lives
MALAKAL, Southern Sudan, Monday, 05 April 2010 (IRIN):

Photo: Indian peacekeepers help treat a cow at a mobile vet clinic at Mayom, Unity state (Peter Martell/IRIN)

As a region still recovering from years of brutal civil war and battling inter-ethnic clashes and food insecurity, Southern Sudan would appear to have bigger worries than animal welfare.

But when so many people rely on animals for their survival, improving their health and tackling rising death rates is of critical importance, veterinarians say.

“People’s lives depend on animals but the services for them are very few,” said Sukhir Singh, a vet, who runs a basic but busy animal clinic in the dusty Southern Sudanese town of Malakal, capital of the underdeveloped but oil-rich Upper Nile state.

“Most cannot afford even the drugs that are available,” added Singh, a lieutenant colonel in the Indian army, which runs the animal unit as part of the UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan (UNMIS) operations.

Long lines of cows and donkeys arrive each day for free treatment. Their owners are in no doubt about the benefits of this service.

“I have two donkeys but this one is sick,” said Yahir Adam Hassan, who delivers river water in converted oil drum carts pulled by the donkeys. “I don’t have enough money to pay for treatment, so without help, I would lose my livelihood.”

Sudanese students help the Indian vets, who provide training for students and community animal health workers, who then take their skills to more remote areas.

Most patients are working animals – cows, donkeys, horses, as well as sheep and goats – but one young boy carries in his thin puppy for treatment too. A goat with a broken leg has its limb cast in plaster, while the dog gets an injection to kill internal parasites.

The clinic has treated more than 55,000 animals since 2006, with a second opening this February in Bor, the state capital of Jonglei, Singh said.

Wealth and death

Cows represent wealth and status for many people in Southern Sudan and are the source of regular raids and revenge attacks.



Photo: Sudanese students putting a cast on a sheep's broken leg in Malakal More than 450 people have been killed in inter-communal clashes in the South this year, after 2,500 were killed in 2009, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Southern Sudan. (Peter Martell/IRIN)

Poor or badly timed rains, combined with insecurity, have also affected animal health, with organizations now boosting efforts to vaccinate cattle in an attempt to cut rising rates of infection.

“People primarily depend on livestock for their income, and the death rate among animals has been rising steadily,” the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a 16 March statement.

“Drugs to treat sick animals are either prohibitively expensive or unavailable in the local markets,” the ICRC added, warning that many animals had not been vaccinated since 2006.

“In order to alleviate the hardship of both resident and displaced communities it has now become crucial to improve the health of their animals.”

It is working alongside Veterinarians without Borders to vaccinate 50,000 cattle before rains close roads to many areas. More than 30,000 have already been vaccinated, including in the remote and swampy Pibor county area of Jonglei state. The campaign is targeting four major cattle diseases, including pneumonia.

“The animals – mainly cows – are not only a source of food and milk but are also used for trading,” the ICRC said. “The loss of wealth makes it increasingly difficult for pastoralists to meet their families' needs.”

The few centres such as Malakal’s clinic are therefore highly valued.

When heavy fighting broke out in February 2009 between Northern and Southern soldiers in the town, nearby university buildings were badly damaged by tank and mortar shells, but the clinic was spared.

“People did not want to destroy this [the clinic],” said John Malak, who had brought his cow to be treated. “They said, ‘This is something that is for everybody’.”

Many travel long distances to reach it.



Photo: Waiting for a vet in Malakal, capital of Upper Nile state “I live across the other side of the river, so I had to bring my cow across by boat,” said Peter Augustine, a cattle herder. (Peter Martell/IRIN)

Mobile clinics

The team also runs mobile clinics in more remote areas, treating more than 8,000 animals over the past year.

Outside Mayom in Unity state, the vets erect a tent, and Indian soldiers and cattlekeeping boys work together to put cows into a restraining pen for the vet to examine.

“Many have problems with worms, ticks and other parasites,” said Singh, injecting a cow to kill internal worms, one of more than 280 cows, sheep and goats treated in the two-day camp.

“It takes a little while for the message to get out that we are here,” said Singh. “But once the first animals have been treated, the news travels very quickly and many more come.”

The centre also provides training for community animal health workers, who can provide basic advice to improve livestock health across wide areas.

Radio programmes also advise to farmers on how to prevent diseases – and what to do if they think their animals are sick.