Joy for world’s first camel and llama cross

Rama, the world's first cama, finally has some friends to play with.

The hybrid animal, the product of breeding a llama and a camel, has been the only creature of this kind since her birth in 1995.

But now, thanks to better breeding techniques, there are three more camas roaming the Arabian desert.



Camas are humpless and have the long fluffy coat of a llama. Their ears are half way in length between camels and llamas, but they have the strong, desert-ready legs of a camel.

Strangest of all, camas have partially cloven feet – a halfway compromise between the foot pad of the camels and cloven feet of the llamas.

The birth of the new camas is a dream come true for Dr Lulu Skidmore and her team at Dubai's Camel Reproduction Centre. She said: 'When we started the project, we were not sure if it would even be possible to breed them. Now we have four thriving animals.'