Camels in Africa are suffering from extreme heat. Herders in Ethiopia's Afar region say their camels are getting blisters, skin burns, eye problems, and that baby camels are dying because of rising temperatures, according to the BBC.

Ali Umer, a 40-year-old camel herder from Semera in the Afar region of north-eastern Ethiopia, told the BBC that his camels get blisters on their feet and watery eyes. He said hot sand burns their skin and "eats up their hair when they are sitting." Umer owns about 500 camels and lost eight baby camels in one month because of the heat. He said the wind, which used to bring cool air, now carries heat, and that temperatures have changed drastically in recent years.

The Afar region is one of the hottest and driest places on Earth. Nomads there lead camel caravans carrying salt through the desert. For these communities, camels are not just extra animals. They are a main source of income and transport. The problems Umer describes, foot blisters, eye discharge, and coat damage, match what scientists, animal welfare workers, and studies have found about how extreme heat affects camels: stress, fatigue, dehydration, and more disease.

Higher temperatures also cause harm indirectly. When water, plants, and shaded areas disappear, the heat becomes even harder on camels. A 2025 study published in Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice found that high temperatures and shifting climate patterns hurt camel milk production, general health, and how much camels eat. A 2013 report from the FAO (the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) says heat stress changes how animals' bodies work, reducing their ability to produce milk and reproduce, and raising death rates. Those findings were echoed in a 2010 FAO publication. Another FAO report links climate-driven changes like droughts, fires, floods, and unpredictable weather to changes in animals' physical condition.

The IPCC (the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world's leading body for assessing climate science) said in a special report that climate change is affecting food security in drylands, especially in Africa. The connection to herders like Umer is clear: the same animals that have always done well in dry environments are now facing conditions hotter than what they can handle.

The stress on camels is not limited to Ethiopia. Mohamed Hassan Gure, a herder in Somalia, lost most of his camels to a combination of drought, floods, and locust swarms, as documented by the ICRC. In Kenya, herders have been switching from cattle to camels to cope with rising temperatures and less predictable rain, according to the World Resources Institute. They made the switch because camels can survive with less water and eat sparse plants that cattle cannot. But the evidence from Afar, and from the broader research, raises a question: do even camels have their limits?

The herders' accounts match what scientists describe in the FAO and academic literature. Heat stress in animals works in two ways. First, the heat itself puts strain on the body. Second, the environment that animals rely on to cool down, water, shade, and food, starts to disappear. Camels store fat in their humps as a backup supply of water and energy. But constant heat can drain those reserves faster than the camel can rebuild them. When camels eat less, the problem gets worse. And when hot sand burns through a resting camel's hair and skin, the things camels normally do to cope, resting during the hottest hours and seeking shade, actually cause injury instead of relief.

The broader context here is that the Horn of Africa is experiencing climate changes that are happening faster than either animals or the communities that depend on them can adapt. Drought, flooding, and locust swarms, the combination that wiped out Mohamed Hassan Gure's herd in Somalia, are not isolated events. They pile on top of each other. For herders who have already switched from cattle to camels, there is no obvious next animal to turn to. The camel has long been considered the last-resort livestock in the driest parts of the continent. The fact that it is now showing clear signs of stress under current conditions suggests that the margin for adaptation in these regions is thinner than people have assumed.

Camels have been a way for herders to adapt to a changing climate. As cattle became harder to raise in dry conditions, herders turned to camels. If camels themselves are now suffering heat severe enough to kill calves and damage the health of adults, that safety net is shrinking. The 2025 study's finding about reduced milk production matters in a practical way: milk is a staple food for pastoralist families, and when production drops, both nutrition and income take a hit at the same time.