K. Ulmer and A.

Fischer 85

Traditional slaughter, carcass dressing

and processing of camels
K. Ulmer and A. Fischer

The following chapter uses Kenya as an example to describe the traditional

way camels are slaughtered, deboned and processed. There is every likelihood
that the slaughter, deboning and processing methods described can be adapted
to other countries in Africa and Asia.

6.1 Locations for slaughter of camels

In rural areas facilities for slaughter are often non-existent or very simple. In
most cases camels are slaughtered in the open air, on bare ground, without any
roof to give protection from dust and sun. Simple scaffolds or trees are used to
hang the carcasses up for processing.
The place where camels are slaughtered in Isiolo, Kenya, can be cited as an
example. Here camels are slaughtered in the open air, at a location which is
quite separate from the slaughterhouse used for cattle. The smooth concrete
floor is surrounded by a six-foot-high fence. The slaughter takes place on the
ground, so the meat is soon contaminated with dust and dirt. Hanging racks
are available for hanging up the cuts. There is also running water for cleaning,
with a hole in the ground for drainage.
Even in public slaughterhouses there are usually no technical facilities for car-
rying out the hygiene measures that are urgently needed. Inadequate energy
and water supplies often make it difficult to clean and disinfect the slaughter-
house and equipment and dispose of offal and effluent. This means there is a
very high risk of contamination of the meat. Adequate cold storage rooms are
rarely available. This is why fresh meat is many times of poor quality and has a
short shelf life in most developing countries.
86 Traditional slaughter, carcass dressing and processing of camels

Fig. 6.1: Place where

camels are slaughtered in
Isiolo, Kenya

6.2 The traditional method of slaughter for camels

The traditional slaughter of camels requires the meat to be ”halal”, in accord-
ance with Islamic custom. In this type of slaughter the animals are not stunned.
The camel is first put into a sitting position, the head is secured in a caudal
position (i.e. turned towards the tail), and the main blood vessels between the
neck and the thorax are severed with a single cut. Death occurs immediately.
Although the Koran forbids consumption of blood, in some parts of Kenya the
blood is collected and consumed. If the cut in the neck is not expertly executed,
however, this traditional method of slaughter can be cruel and causes great
suffering to the animal, since death then does not occur immediately – which is
a strong argument for prior stunning of the animal.
The camel’s skin is removed, starting from the backbone and going down both
sides of the carcass to the belly. The skin is laid on the ground with the flesh
side uppermost. The hump is then split lengthwise and removed. The shoulders
are separated and the ribs are cut away from the vertebrae. Next, the
gastrointestinal tract is removed. The backbone is then cut out, so that the
carcass collapses in on itself. The hind legs are split in the pelvis and divided up
into smaller cuts in the joints.
Camels are usually slaughtered early in the morning, when the outside tem-
peratures are relatively low, about 10ºC. In public slaughterhouses there is usu-
ally a post-mortem inspection for camels as well as cattle. After the post-mortem
inspection the meat is taken away very quickly by dealers in special meat trans-
port cases on handcarts or donkey-drawn carts.
 K. Ulmer and A. Fischer 87

Fig. 6.2: Traditional slaughter of the one-

humped camel (Field, 1995)

6.3 Traditional dressing of the carcass

In the traditional method of slaughter the carcass is already divided into cuts at
the end of the slaughter procedure. As already mentioned in the previous chap-
ter, after skinning the hump is first removed,
then the shoulders are detached and the ribs are
cut away from the spinal column. The spinal
column is then removed, so that the carcass col-
lapses in on itself. The hind legs are split in the
pelvis and divided up into smaller cuts in the
joints.
There is no further dressing of the carcass. The
meat is cut directly off the bone. There is no
grading into high-quality and lower-quality cuts.
This means that standardization is impossible
and there is no guarantee of consistent quality
by uniform grading of cuts of meat. The only
sorting that takes place is into meat with or with-
out bones, fat and offal.

Fig. 6.3: Traditional marketing of camel meat in

rural areas of Kenya
88 Traditional slaughter, carcass dressing and processing of camels

6.4 Traditional meat products in Africa and Asia

The range of traditional product groups is fairly narrow. The traditional prod-
ucts in Africa and Asia are mainly dried products, which are made by a low-
technology approach. Because of the climatic conditions and lack of cold stor-
age facilities it is virtually impossible to keep meat or meat products fresh for
any length of time. The drying of meat, taking advantage of existing natural
factors such as temperature, humidity and air movement, is the oldest method
of food preservation.
Examples of typical dried meat products are biltong, odka, qwanta, kilishi and
pastirma.
For the first three of these the meat is cut into strips, then dry-salted or rubbed
with a paste of spices and dried in the sun on straw mats. For odka and qwanta
the meat is then heated in oil and dried in the sun again. So as to be able to keep
the products for up to 12 months, they are covered with oil and stored in a
closed container. To make kilishi, muscle meat is cut into slices which are dried
for a short time in the sun. The slices are then dipped into a mixture of water,
flour and various spices and dried in the sun again with this coating. Dried
products are frequently smoked over a fireplace, to improve their flavor and
microbiological stability.
Another dried product is pastirma. Here the dry-salting process takes several
days, since large pieces of meat are used. After the dry-salting, the meat is
pressed for several days to remove water and give it an attractive shape. During
the subsequent drying process, which usually takes place in the shade and in-
volves air-drying, the pieces of meat are pressed again. The dried muscle meat
is then coated with a paste made from water, salt, garlic, fenugreek seeds, pa-
prika and mustard, and dried again.
In spite of the simple procedures used to make traditional dried products, the
seasonal weather conditions often make it difficult to achieve consistent qual-
ity. Thus, the products often vary widely in degree of drying and processing
time, and this results in poorer microbiological stability and reduced keeping
quality.

For more on:

Method for hygienic slaughter of camels,
Dressing of the camel carcass,
Meat products from camel meat,
read : “Milk and meat from camel: Hand book on products and processing”
Z. Farah and A. Fischer (Editors)