Camel herds’ reproductive performance in Algeria: Objectives and thresholds in extreme arid conditions

A survey was carried out for evaluating camel herd's fertility and fecundity under Algerian extreme arid conditions. Progeny History Testing data obtained from 14 camel herds (78 females and 20 males) were analyzed and compared with standard objectives and thresholds. The age at first rut, the first oestrus, first male and female mating (months ± SD) were 37.2 ± 16.29, 31.07 ± 8.97, 42.6 ± 14.28 and 35.52 ± 8.55, respectively. The birth conception interval, open days, age at first calving and calving interval were 40.35 ± 9.41 months, 340 ± 203 days, 51.05 ± 9.59 months and 22.32 ± 5.63 months. The mean male to female ratio was 1:40. Pregnancy diagnosis was performed 21.81 ± 16.4 (days) post-mating and the duration of pregnancy was on average 12.80 ± 0.30 months. The mean herd's annual fertility was 56.2 ± 6.6%; the mean culling age of males per herd was 15.30 ± 2.47 years whereas females were culled at 23.31 ± 5.64 years with a mean number of 5.23 ± 2.91 lactations. The observed reproductive traits were acceptable when compared to the fixed objectives for pastoral livestock. However, all the considered herds showed annual fertility out of threshold. The lack of significant strategy to improve age at first calving, calving interval and reasoned use of dromedary bulls, is likely to affect fertility and productivity of Algerian camel herds. Such negative trend could hamper the genetic improvement of autochthonous camel ecotypes and compromise the camel sector and the ecosystemic services provided by local cameleers.