Ulaanbaatar
Ten Thousand Camel Festival Held for 25th Year
Society
Ulaanbaatar, February 5, 2024 /MONTSAME/ The Ten Thousand Camel Festival, one of the attractive winter tourism events took place for the 25th year on February 3-4, 2024 in Umnugobi aimag. Umnugobi aimag, the province with the largest number of camels in Mongolia has 16 thousand head of camels as of 2023, according to the livestock census.
The Camel Festival is expanding year by year and continues
to attract more domestic and foreign tourists. Over 400 camel herders from 20
soums of 7 aimags participated in the Festival while more than 8.500 tourists including
120 foreigners visited the Festival this year.
The festival was first initiated in 1997 by the locals of Umnugobi to protect Mongolian camels-the two-humped Bactrian camel species and pass the rich Mongolian camel breeding heritage to the next generation, and also to promote winter tourism in Mongolia. The event featured various events and competitions including the camel race, camel polo, the contest of best male and female camels, and a fair.
The Governor of Umnugobi aimag R. Seddorj, noted, “Our
aimag has many renowned camel herders including Hero of Labour of Mongolia D.
Jijee, Kh. Gombosuren, D. Khamar, and J. Togtokhsuren, Honored Herder of
Mongolia G. Bud, A. Batbuyan, and D. Khuukhen and Mongolia’s first Honored Camel
Trainer M. Munkhbayan. We are proud of them. Among many scientists in the agricultural
sector, researchers B. Luvsan and O. Erdenebileg are devoting their great
efforts to improving the two-humped camel breed.”
“The United Nations declared 2024 the International Year of Camelids. Mongolia counted 473,900 camels in 2023, one-third of which is in Umnugobi aimag.”
The Head of the Nature, Environment and Tourism Department
of Umnugobi aimag Kh. Otgonmunkh, remarked, “In previous years, the Ten
Thousand Camel Festival was held on March 8 and 9, but this year, due to the warming
caused by climate change, the date was brought forward by one month. Now it
will be organized regularly on February 1-3 annually. Many works are being
carried out with the main goal of developing winter tourism and increasing the
value of camels in Umnugobi aimag.”
