Shamri added, “ Terrorist organizations have been spreading in Iraq’s western regions since 2014, and the Bedouin became afraid to move, so they sold most of their camels, remained in one place and engaged in agriculture and trade to make a living.”

He explained, “In the 1950s and 1960s, our people used to safely cross the international border with Saudi Arabia without hindrance. Today, security personnel and border guards stop us, so the number of camels has decreased.”

Iraq’s Bedouin were known to have raised camels for hundreds of years and trained them to carry their tents and belongings from one place to another. Shamri said, “Camels can carry about 400 kilograms [882 pounds] and can go without drinking for several days. They are like the ships of the desert: Without them, people cannot survive it.”

Abdullah al-Shamri, a 60-year-old camel herder from an area west of Karbala , 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Baghdad, told Al-Monitor, “The lack of pasture due to the scarcity of rainfall has pushed a lot of camel herders to leave this profession and migrate to the outskirts of cities.” He added, “But they could not give up camel breeding altogether, so they contented themselves with a few camels they raise around the temporary houses they built.”

BABIL, Iraq — Foreigners often associate camels with Arabs , who make up the majority of the Iraqi people . The Arab camel is ubiquitous in Western culture and literature, just like the Russian bear or the Chinese dragon. However, today the camel population has declined in Iraq and very few can be spotted in the wild. The camels that once wandered the cities are now fading, even in the depths of the desert.

On the outskirts of the western province of Babil, 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Baghdad, the Harakisah Bedouin tribe has engaged in camel breeding for as long as they can remember. Mejbel Mohammed, a 70-year-old camel herder from Babil, told Al-Monitor, “Although the number of camels in Iraq has decreased, the Harakisah tribe still owns around 300 camels.” He added, “We move around this vast area looking for water and grass. Although we have remained more or less in one area for about 30 years, our ancestors used to reach farther places near the Iraqi-Iranian border.”

Sheikh Raed al-Klipy, from the al-Klipy tribe, accompanied Al-Monitor's tour to the Harakisah areas. Along the way, he said, “The nomadic lifestyle has changed with the proliferation of vehicles and means of communication.”

Klipy pointed to the proliferation of trucks in the area, saying, “[People] replaced camels with such vehicles to move from one place to another. They also started using mobile phones and making sure they settle in urban areas. All of this reduced their interest in camel breeding.”

Bedouin Abu Hatem, 55, told Al-Monitor, “In 1980, my family owned around 40 camels, but today we only have 10.”

Speaking to Al-Monitor, Dr. Thamer al-Kafaji, the head of Babil's veterinarians syndicate with around 30 years of experience in livestock care in the Bedouin areas, attributed this large decrease to “the migration to the cities and the drought in many grazing areas, in addition to the spread of modern transportation means in the desert.”

However, Kafaji said, “Camels are still appreciated even in cities, as people see them as a symbol of goodness, although camels can scarcely be spotted in everyday life these days.” He added, “The purpose of camel breeding has changed. The main objective of camel breeding used to be to move from one place to another, but today, camel herders take advantage of their meat and dairy products.”

Kafaji noted that camels are now rare because “their prices are high. One camel could cost up to $4,000. Their meat and milk are also rare, so one liter can be sold for $4 in some areas.

“Camels are pregnant for 12 months. They produce a lot of milk and live for about 35 years,” he added. "They are able to walk long distances in the desert without needing food because they store fat in their bodies and consume it whenever they need to.”

Suhaila al-Khikany, a member of Babil’s provincial council and the head of the province’s agricultural committee, told Al-Monitor, “One of the reasons for the decline in the number of camels is the drought that affected a lot of pasture in Iraq. Camel breeding also requires a lot of experience, which many lack. Many Bedouin left the desert and moved into the cities, so they let their camels go.” She estimates that there are around 5,000 camels in Babil province.

To preserve the livestock, she suggested “giving Bedouin and camel herders grazing land, providing a suitable feeding mechanism and increasing health and veterinary care by providing medicine, vaccines and periodic examination in addition to educating livestock herders.”

Iraq is suffering from a decrease in the number of livestock, especially camels, whose numbers dropped to about 57,000 in 2016, a tiny drop in the millions of cattle in Iraq.

Khikany stressed the urgent need to “use modern technologies in monitoring and controlling the movement of the animals, with the help of a GPS system, to keep accurate counts and thus provide them with the needed health care and services.”