In Bed En La Cama Torrent
Toni Jarels
A cama is a hybrid between a male dromedary camel and a female llama, and has been produced via artificial insemination at the Camel Reproduction Centre in Dubai.[1] The first cama was born on January 14, 1998. The aim was to create an animal capable of higher wool production than the llama, with the size and strength of a camel and a cooperative temperament.[2]
The first cama showed signs of becoming sexually mature at age four, when he showed a desire to breed with a female guanaco and a female llama. He was also a behavioral disappointment, displaying an extremely poor temperament. The second cama, a female named Kamilah, was successfully born in 2002. As of April 2008, five camas had been produced.[8]
The camelid family consists of the Old World camelids (the dromedary camels, Bactrian camels, and wild Bactrian camels) and the New World camelids (the llama, vicuna, suri alpaca, huacaya alpaca, and guanaco). Though there have been successful and fertile hybrids within each major groups of camelids, the cama marks the first instance of cross-breeding between the two groups. The following is a table comparing some of the characteristics of camelids.[1][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]
The Dry Lake Road Trailhead sits just east of the park boundary and, according to a link at camanoislandinfo.com, parking there is "free to the public" (i.e., unlike trailheads inside the park, a Discover Pass is NOT required.)