PRESCOTT, Wash. — Rizzy the camel is still getting used to people. A dromedary camel, he is just over a year old and about 5 feet tall.

Owner Mickey Richards purchased Rizzy in May, adding him to a menagerie of animals on his small farm near Prescott, Wash., about 18 miles north of Walla Walla.

A retired farrier, Richards also keeps donkeys, horses, longhorn cattle, emus, alpacas, goats, kunekune pigs, peacocks, pigeons, doves and rabbits on the 21-acre farm. He offers educational talks and tours to give children a close-up view of the critters.

“He hadn’t been touched before we got him,” Richards said.

To smooth the transition, Richards put Rizzy in a pen with several donkeys, which are “real tame.”

“They buddied up pretty quick,” Richards said. “Because they love people, he was seeing, ‘Oh, they’re not here to hurt me.’”

This wasn’t quite the United Nations International Year of Camelids that Richards had originally envisioned.

The U.N. set aside the past year to celebrate dromedary (one-humped) and Bactrian (two-humped) camels, llamas, alpacas and their wilder relatives, vicunas and guanacos, promoting their role as a source of meat, milk, fiber, fertilizer and labor worldwide.

Richards’ previous camel, Izzy, had become a regional attraction, making appearances at fairs and other events and even portraying a zombie camel on the TV show “Z Nation.”

But then Izzy, 18, died on Jan. 24, and Richards wasn’t sure he wanted another camel.

Remembering Izzy

“We still miss him a lot,” Richards said. “I still get choked up sometimes. Part of animal husbandry is, you lose animals.”

He’s still not certain exactly what happened. The veterinarian told him at the time that Izzy’s kidneys were shutting down.

“It’s been very frustrating since his loss that we could never find answers,” Richards said.

He found a research article from an Australian camel ranch that said they receive similar reports of exactly what happened to Izzy from camel owners all over the world.

“It’s a phenomenon that none of the vets have been able to figure out what’s going on,” Richards said. “It’s just something that happens.”

Initially, Richards and his wife, Tawnya, decided they weren’t going to get another camel.

“But there was such an outpouring from the public about the impact Izzy had on so many people’s lives, just the stories that really touch your heart,” Richards said. “People kept begging us to get another one. So we decided to jump in and try it again.”

At the same time, he replaced his camel trailer. He found one made for hauling thoroughbred racehorses. It gives Richards more room to haul several animals and offer different shows, he said.

“It’s great for education,” he said. “Different people like to see different types of animals.”

Getting adjusted

Richards got Rizzy in May, at 6 months old, from a South Dakota camel ranch.

Rizzy recognizes Richards because he feeds him every day. But he doesn’t quite trust people and doesn’t like to be touched.

He’s a far cry from Izzy, who lived next to a school before Richards got him and loved little kids, loud noises and motorcycles.

“We’re not going to be doing our traditional Christmas things this year,” such as appearing in nativity scenes, Richards said. His goal is to eventually get back to doing public shows.

He has taken Rizzy to several, but always with the donkeys and the llama. That way Rizzy will slowly get used to people.

“I have to be careful not to push him,” Richards said. “Camels that get pushed as babies don’t turn out nice.

“People have been real understanding that he’s just a baby,” he added. “I think it’s been a little hard, because people still expect him to have Izzy’s personality, and he’s just not Izzy. But he’ll get there.”

Because they can interact with the other animals, audiences are fine with not touching Rizzy, Richards said.

“People just like to see him,” he said. “Usually the comment is, ‘He’s really big.’ I think he’s going to be quite a bit bigger than Izzy was.”

Izzy was about 8 feet tall at the shoulder. Rizzy’s parents are both bigger, so he’s likely to reach about 9 feet tall, Richards said.

So far, he only likes sweet feed, and not the carrots and apples Izzy used to munch on.

“For us, it’s learning to adapt and let Izzy go,” Richards said. “And not expect Rizzy to be Izzy. And just let it evolve to be what it’s going to be.”

International year a success

The international year was “jam-packed” with events across the U.S. and abroad, said Valeri Crenshaw, secretary general of the North American Camel Owners Association.

The association estimates 6,000 to 8,000 camels live in the U.S.

U.S. camel ranch owners visited locations and cultures that have been managing camels for generations, with trips to India, Morocco, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

They met camel experts, discussed camel welfare and health, visited camel dairies and a vineyard where a camel pulls the plow between rows of grapes, and swam with racing camels for exercise in the Persian Gulf.

“We went to hospitals that are just dedicated to treating camels, something we don’t have here in North America,” Crenshaw said.

Veterinary science in the U.S. is less advanced than other countries when it comes to camels, she said.

“If you’re going to vet school and you’re doing large animals, it makes sense — you need to know cattle, you need to know horses,” she said. “I don’t think that camels are making the radar the way they should be. It’s hard to find vets that have camel experience, but then it’s also just as hard to find vets that have camel knowledge, because it’s just not being taught at the university level.”

The association offers free day-long, hands-on workshops for veterinary students — and their teachers. A camel owner herself near Manhattan, Kan., Crenshaw might not know what medicines to prescribe, but she can teach them how to safely handle the animals without injury.

“As dairies become on the rise, and camels are expensive, they need health care,” she said. “The same way we would a $20,000 horse, a $20,000 camel needs the same sort of care.”

The association hosted a large camel training clinic in Las Vegas to mark the year, which included a string of camels walking along the Las Vegas Strip.

Crenshaw wants to keep the energy and the momentum going.

“I don’t think we need an excuse from the U.N. to be this excited about camels,” she said.

The association is waiting to see how the presidential election impacts a proposed USDA rule that would reclassify camels as wild animals instead of livestock, Crenshaw said. The association does not support the potential change.

“Right now we’re feeling good about our relationship with the USDA,” Crenshaw said. “They seem to understand that camels really are livestock, and that there’s a lot of great research that backs that up — and years and years of history that proves that.”

Llamas and alpacas

“I never wanted to have a llama,” Richards said.

But a friend begged him to take one. He planned to find the llama a new home — and fell in love with her.

“Now I want more,” he said with a grin. “I need to find her a boyfriend.”

The llama — Miss Belle — and Rizzy have buddied up.

“Which is interesting, because they are related species,” Richards said. “It’s nice to have them both at the show so you can show people the difference.”

U.S. llama and alpaca organizations also consider the international year a success.

The Llama Association of North America shared photos and information on social media.

“I cannot say that there was any impact to the industry per se,” said Sue Rich, association secretary. “I do know that we better engaged youth and adults in regard to sharing their photos and camelid stories. We really generated excitement about that.”

The Alpaca Owners Association shared information on the historical benefits of camelids on social media.

“We are always focused on bringing to light all the benefits of alpacas here in the U.S., namely alpaca eco-friendliness, sustainability, the fiber’s antimicrobial and natural fire retardant properties and the luxuries, yet durability of the fiber,” executive director Robin Gifford said.

The USDA’s 2022 Census of Agriculture reported 99,500 alpacas and 29,700 head of llamas.

The future

Richards is now able to approach Rizzy and touch him.

They’re using a new training technique, Richards said.

When he reflects on the end of the International Year of Camelids, Richards thinks it’s been educational for the public, bringing awareness of the benefits the animals provide — and what humanity owes them.

“They helped us create civilization,” he said.

He still hopes to eventually add other animals to his farm — more llamas, zebras and ostriches, for instance.

This fall, several home schools and preschool classes toured Richards’ farm, to see all of the animals there.

One animal in particular was looking right back.

“He’s actually more interested in kids than he is anybody else,” Richards said of Rizzy. “He seems to be curious about small kids. He’ll watch them more, study them, he’ll go to the fence a little easier. He still doesn’t want them to touch him, but you can see there’s something there, that he’s thinking about the children, more trusting of them.”

What’s next?

The U.N. has declared 2025 the International Year of Cooperatives, promoting their contributions to social and economic development; the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation, the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology and the International Year of Peace and Trust.

2026 will be the International Year of Rangeland and Pastoralists, and the International Year of the Woman Farmer.