These camels have an unlikely tale
Long-shot hip surgery gives pregnant animal a new life as she and her herd are raised with hope of helping others
BEAUMONT — Sybil and her new baby, Ivan, are enjoying life on their farm in Jasper, about 70 miles north of Beaumont, grazing the hedgerows and pastures with their growing herd.
It’s an outcome that seemed unlikely a few months ago, when the then-pregnant 7-year-old dromedary camel developed a mysterious limp that caused great discomfort to her and concerned her owners, Joanna and Ron McMurry, who are hoping their camel herd will someday help treat chronic conditions.
X-rays at Texas A&M University’s Large Animal Hospital revealed that Sybil had somehow dislocated a hip, an injury that often end in euthanasia.
“It was hard for us,” Joanna said. “We didn’t really know what the chances were for her or the baby.”
A rare hip surgery performed at Texas A&M University’s Large Animal Hospital provided the camel a new lease on life and could one day impact the lives of others dealing with adversity.
LAH surgeon and assistant professor Kati Glass told the Bryan-College Station Eagle last September that she knew there would be challenges if they attempted the surgery.
“We were very worried, and I spoke to a bunch of surgeons for a bit of advice while preparing for surgery,” Glass said. “Those people were very doubtful. … The challenge is the force it takes to get the (hip) back into socket with muscles so big, and then keeping that hip in the socket.”
After some nerve-wracking attempts to set the hip in its proper place, the surgery was a success. During her recovery, Sybil was even the guest of honor at a baby shower hosted by LAH students. She was supposed to return to the College Station hospital for the birth, but the pandemic made that impossible.
Ivan was born in May at the McMurrys’ farm. He spends his days close to his mother’s side or playing with his cousin who is about the same age, and Sybil seems to be getting along well despite the ordeal that first introduced her to the staff at Texas A&M University.
Ron, a Jasper physician, said he was inspired to raise camels after he learned about their unique physiology and reading stories of how people rely on camel’s milk to treat chronic diseases.
Researchers and health advocates have been interested in two components of camel’s milk, lactoferrin and immunoglobulins, believed to benefit the immune system. Homeopaths have credited its high zinc content with improving insulin sensitivity in people with diabetes.
Specifically, Ron was fascinated with testimonials from parents who reported great improvements for their children dealing with autism spectrum disorders after being introduced to regular servings of camel’s milk.
Some studies on children diagnosed with autism between the ages of 2 and 12 who used cow’s milk as a placebo reported improvements to behavior, but none of those claims have been validated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Until someone does a comprehensive study, Ron said, any benefits from camel’s milk will remain just anecdotal, which is why he decided to work toward having a producing camel farm that could one day facilitate the kind of controlled study that might help reveal some concrete answers.
“There very well may be something to it, and if there isn’t, I want to know that, too,” he said.
The McMurrys recently obtained another camel from a farm in Kansas. Bita soon will give birth to a new playmate for Ivan.
Camels can typically only be milked between 8 and 18 months after giving birth, but can sometimes produce milk for up to three years.
Ron said he would like to have 15 producing camels at the farm before he could consider conducting a study with a medical research school on the milk’s effects.