• Mali to give French president new camel after first one is eaten

    Fred Dufour / Pool via Reuters, file

    French President Francois Hollande, lower right, is mobbed by Malians during his visit to Timbuktu in February. A camel gifted to Hollande during his visit ended up being eaten by a family in the town.

    By Reuters

    Malian authorities will give French President Francois Hollande another camel after the one they gave him in thanks for helping repel Islamist rebels was killed and eaten by the family he left it with in Timbuktu, an official in Mali said.


    A local government official in northern Mali said on Tuesday a replacement would be sent to France.

    "As soon as we heard of this, we quickly replaced it with a bigger and better-looking camel," said the official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

    "The new camel will be sent to Paris. We are ashamed of what happened to the camel. It was a present that did not deserve this fate."

    Hollande was presented with the camel when he visited Mali in February several weeks after dispatching French troops to the former colony to help combat al Qaeda-linked fighters moving south from a base in the north of the country.

     

    The president joked at the time about using the camel to get around traffic-jammed Paris. But he chose in the end to leave it with a family in the town on the edge of the Sahara desert.

    Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was tasked with giving Hollande regular updates on the camel's status and had to inform him of its death last week, French media said.

    "The news came in from soldiers on the ground," said a French government official.

    French leaders have received many gifts of exotic or wild animals from Africa and further afield over the years.

    Last week, a robber chainsawed a tusk off the skeleton of an elephant offered to Louis XIV by a Portuguese king in 1668. Police caught the robber as he fled, tusk under his arm.

    Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

  • In the market for a camel? Pushkar fair has up to 20,000 animals for sale & trade

    Kevin Frayer / AP

    An Indian camel herder leads his herd at the annual camel & livestock fair in Pushkar, India., on Nov. 20.

    Roberto Schmidt / AFP - Getty Images

    An owner ties a string of bells to the foot of his camel to make it more appealing for sale at the camel fair grounds on Nov. 21.

     

    The annual five-day camel and livestock fair in Pushkar, India, is one of the world's largest camel fairs and, in addition to the buying and selling of livestock, it has become an important tourist attraction. According to the fair's website, up to 20,000 camels, horses & cattle will be at the event.

    Editor's note: All images made available Nov. 21.

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    Rajesh Kumar Singh / AP

    Indian camel herders walk with their herd as they arrive to sell their camels at the fair on Nov. 21.

    Kevin Frayer / AP

    Indian camel herders sit next to their herd on Nov. 20.

    Lam Yik Fei / Getty Images

    Two boys walk past camels at the fair on Nov. 21.

    Kevin Frayer / AP

    An Indian camel herder pulls a reluctant camel at the fair on Nov. 20.

    Roberto Schmidt / AFP - Getty Images

    A group of camel traders sit around a fire in the early morning hours at the camel fair grounds on the outskirts of Pushkar on Nov. 21, 2012.

    Kevin Frayer / AP

    An Indian man rides a camel as he pursues another during a camel race at the fair on Nov. 21.

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  • Sale of Niger nomad's last camel is sign of hunger

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Helpers prepare just-purchased camels for their new owners to take with them at the livestock market in the desert village of Sakabal, Niger. Eighty percent of Niger's people and 100 percent of the landlocked nation's rural population depend on livestock, including camel, cows, sheep and goats, for some part of their income. For generations, nomads have lived in a precarious equilibrium with the sky above them. When the first rains come, they head north toward the Sahara desert, where the grass is said to be saltier, packed with minerals. They time their movements according to the clouds, waiting for the second major downpour, before making a U-turn to head back to the greener south. If they miscalculate, they can end up stranded. As the grass turns yellow, their animals become too weak to walk.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    A Tuareg man smiles as his camel rises from lying down at the livestock market in the desert village of Sakabal, Niger.

    In a part of the world where the worth of a man is measured by his animals, Tuareg nomad Soumaila Wantala has come to this market to do the unthinkable: Sell his last camel.

    He crouches in the shade of a thorn tree as traders haggle over the 4-year-old male animal, Yedi. When the sale is complete, Yedi rears his enormous neck and lets out a cry, like the deep, subterranean call of a whale. It takes three men to drag the camel out of the arena, as if he understands the fate that has just befallen his master.

    -- Reported by the Associated Press

    Read the full story.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Herdsmen gather at the livestock market.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Tuareg nomads arrive at the market to trade livestock in Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    A Tuareg nomad carrying his traditional sword has a hook fit to his camel at the market in Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    A Peul merchant relaxes on his stick by the door of a house while attending the livestock market in Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Men walk through the grain market in the desert village of Sakabal, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Tuareg nomads carrying their traditional swords and good luck amulets around their neck, shop for fabric and other goods while attending the livestock market in Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    A Nigerian taxman records the sale of a camel at the market in Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    A rare vehicle carries villagers back to Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    A Tuareg nomad, carrying his traditional sword, walks past a handler pulling just-purchased sheep to their new owner at the livestock market in Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Sold goats are loaded on the rooftop of a truck in the desert village of Sakabal, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    A herdsman's family heats up water for dinner in the fields near Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    A young herdsman walks through his cattle outside Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Birds fly over grazing cows in the green sandy plains near Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Young herdsmen show their henna stained hands, sign of a recent wedding celebration, as they gather at the livestock market in the desert village of Sakabal, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    A Tuareg nomad, carrying his traditional sword, rides his camel as he leaves the livestock market in Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Livestock merchants leave Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    In this picture taken Monday, July 16, 2012, nomads stop for the night between Dakoro and Bermo, Niger.