Animals of India

We knew we were in India as our car headed for Agra and negotiated around buffalo and cows We are now used to seeing them wandering down the street, crossing the street, sleeping or resting in the median. Our guide in Jodhpur pointed out that the city’s slanted (think an inverted v) shaped medians kept the cows from just laying about. We were assured that each and every cow has an owner.

Unexpected were the herds of sheep and goats we saw throughout our trip.

Rajasthan is a heavily vegetarian community (and Pushkar prohibits the serving of meat, fish, and eggs within its boundaries) we were especially surprised by the goats - we saw lamb on most non-vegetarian menus. While goat meat is eaten the more usual use is goat’s milk. Similar to the cows the goats and sheep seemed unbothered by vehicular traffic and stayed on course. We also saw a small donkey herd – we assumed that we would see one later in time for a picture but we never did. So we have to settle for this solitary donkey.

Our first camel sighting, again on the road to Agra, seemed exotic. The camel was pulling a cart. We were reminded that camels are a beast of burden. We saw them pulling loaded carts, heading a rickshaw, or transporting individual and families. We rejected a camel safari as part of our tour, because they smell and spit. Early in our trip the correctness of our decision was confirmed. On the horse and buggy ride in Agra we found that bumping along a road gets tiring very quickly. On the elephant ride at the Amber Fort we found that being up high and swaying even on a short ride isn’t all it is cracked up to be.
22 October When we headed for the sand dunes outside Jaisalmer clearly many people found the opportunity to ride a camel appealing. I assume that it assures the camels employment (and survival) and the trainers income.

In Bikaner we visited that camel research center. Note that the staff statistics were summed up as “Category Wise Staff Positions.” Also, the sign implies as 6.5 hour work day – 10 to 5 with a half an hour for lunch. As we left the two decorated camels at the door went into action. The cars were stopped for the arrival of a visiting dignitary and as he entered the research center he was given a bouquet of flowers and showered with flower petals.



(A note to all who receive a bouquet – he gave them to the camel rider. We saw Steven Hough, a pianist, make a similar gesture in Prague – he handed his bouquet to a startled member of the audience.) Based on our visit we can down distinguish among the Gujarati (black) camel, the Pushkar camel, and the Jaisalmer (sandy colored) camel. They have different colors, different facial features, and different tasks. We also learned about camel sex – the act takes 25 minutes and at the end the male is collapsed over the female and is pushed off by the trainers. The research center has a dairy where one can get camel milk, camel ice cream, coffee or tea with camel milk. Doug and I shared camel ice cream – sharing was a good idea. I can’t describe the taste beyond saying that once in my life was enough.

Our most memorable animal subject was this monkey at the Jain temple in Ranakpur. We had just turned down two young girls who offered to let us take a picture. As Doug snap a picture of the monkey I asked if the monkey would expect money. Instead the monkey turned and tried to attack Doug. A short and unpleasant encounter.