Camels, long prized in Africa's Horn and North African regions for their resilience to heat and drought, are increasingly succumbing to extreme temperatures as climate change intensifies conditions in some of the hottest places on Earth. Herders in Ethiopia's Afar region report animals suffering blistered feet, watery eyes and burnt skin, with rising deaths threatening a livelihood many pastoralists switched to specifically because camels were thought better able to withstand harsh, arid conditions than cattle.

A herder in Semera, Afar, said he had lost eight camel calves to extreme heat within a single month, and that even the wind now carried heat rather than relief. Studies back up these accounts: research in southern Ethiopia found climate variability harming camel health, productivity and breeding, while a Somali study of nearly 6,000 pastoral households found drought-related mortality affecting 46% of camel-owning households, rising to almost 73% in the Sool region. A veterinary officer in Kenya's Marsabit county reported a more than 15% rise in heat-related camel deaths over two years, alongside increased hyperthermia, infections and falling milk yields.