UK’s biggest camel herd up for sale
A Cornish camel keeper is looking to sell 14 of his herd – giving someone the opportunity to become the UK’s biggest camel farmer overnight.
Stuart Oates is selling 14 of his 20 camels – the largest herd in the UK. The youngest, one-year-old Magnus, would cost buyers £7,000, while the most senior camel, Myrtle, has a price tag of £13,000.
Stuart bought his initial herd of six camels from Bulgaria in 2005 and set up his company – Cornish Camels – on the family’s mixed organic livestock farm near Helston, Cornwall.
The company started out offering group treks around the farm, but over the years more and more business was coming from smaller events like weddings which is why Stuart is looking to scale back the herd.
“They breed really well and we’ve just got too many,” he said.
“Camels are fantastic animals to work with.They are both intelligent and gentle. I feel far more comfortable walking among the camels compared with our Welsh black beef cows.”
Stuart Oates
“This will almost certainly be the largest number of camels ever sold in the UK and offers a very unique opportunity.”
All the camels are two-humped Bactrian camels which originate from the Gobi Desert. They’re tougher than the one-humped Dromedary breed and therefore better suited to the colder British climate.
“Camels are fantastic animals to work with,” added Stuart. “They are both intelligent and gentle. I feel far more comfortable walking among the camels compared with our Welsh black beef cows.”
Despite their gentle nature, buyers would need to apply for a “dangerous wild animals” licence from their local council. But don’t let that put you off, because there could be a very big benefit to potential buyers, especially ones who have a problem with unwanted foliage.
“Camels are browsers, which means they love to eat leaves,” explained Stuart. “Due to their tough mouth they seem to love anything with a spike on which has meant that they have cleared large sections of gorse and they have weeded the entire farm of creeping thistle. This used to be a big problem in our organic system.”
Despite reaching up to 2m in height, a tonne in weight and looking unlike anything else on the farm, Stuart’s Welsh black cattle and Poll Dorset sheep seem largely oblivious to their exotic neighbours.
“Our sheep have never made anything of the camels, but our cows jumped out of their skins the first time they saw the camels. They quickly got used to them though and they will now happily graze alongside each other in the same field.”
If you’re interested in buying a camel, contact Stuart on 07915 089281 or via the Cornish Camels website.
Keep up with more conventional livestock sales with our Taking Stock blog.
Read about how exotic animals have helped another farmer’s bottom line – thanks to the market in feed for zoos.