PRESCOTT, Wash. — Izzy loves little kids and loud noises, has portrayed a zombie on TV and has his own Facebook page.

Izzy, 17, is a 1,700-pound dromedary camel. He is owned by Mickey Richards, who keeps a menagerie of animals on his 21-acre farm about 19 miles north of Walla Walla in southeastern Washington state.

Izzy is mostly a pet, but Richards features him in educational talks and tours of his farm.

“We take him to retirement homes, he does business openings, weddings, birthday parties — anything anybody wants to have something different,” Richards said. “And of course, nativities for Christmas. He’s always booked up for Christmas.”

Richards, 62, retired as a farrier, or horseshoer, after more than 30 years. He also owns seven donkeys, three horses, two longhorn cattle, five emus, four alpacas, a dozen goats, a dozen kunekune pigs, peacocks, pigeons, doves and rabbits.

“I’m the guy that I always admired when I was a kid, because my favorite day of school was the day you went to the farm and got to see all of the animals,” Richards said. “He was my hero. And now I grew up and I got to be that guy.”

Richards and his wife, Tawnya, are also foster parents. They’ve had about 55 foster kids — and counting.

“We have about 35 grandkids, eight great-grandkids, and I’m the crazy grandpa,” he said. “Animals and kids have always been my passion.”

But Izzy the camel remains a star on the farm and, according to the United Nations, this is his big year.

Camels like Izzy and their relatives are taking the spotlight. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization has declared 2024 , the International Year of Camelids, celebrating dromedary (one-humped) and Bactrian (two-humped) camels, llamas, alpacas and their wilder relatives, vicunas and guanacos.

“… Camelids constitute the main means of subsistence for millions of poor families that live in the most hostile ecosystems on the planet,” the U.N. said in its declaration. They also “contribute to the fight against hunger, the eradication of extreme poverty … and the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems.”

Local celebrity

Richards has owned Izzy for 16 years. He was part of a petting zoo at a Boise horse expo Richards attended. The owner had health problems and was looking to sell.

“He’s used to being mobbed by kids every day, before and after school,” Richards said. “So he adores kids. He loves being in the public. He loves going to fairs or wherever. He loves loud noises, motorcycles, semi-trucks. He’s kind of goofy.”

Izzy also makes people smile.

“How can you not smile? He’s a camel,” Richards said. “It’s fun to watch kids especially, because they just light up.”

Zombie camel

Izzy appeared in an episode of the zombie TV show “Z Nation,” which was filmed in and around Spokane.

A producer called Richards and said they were looking for a camel.

Richards was not aware of the show, but his kids were. They accompanied Richards and Izzy to the set.

“It actually worked out perfect, because it was a day all the main cast members were there, which was very rare,” Richards recalled. “So all of them are making a big deal out of Izzy, and my kids are making a big deal out of them.”

Naturally, Izzy played a zombie camel.

”We filmed all day in Spokane, and by the time we were done, he’s covered with fake blood,” Richards said. “We didn’t get home until late, and I didn’t have time to clean him up. So I’m like, ‘I gotta hide him,’ because if people see blood on him, they’re going to think he got attacked. So I hid him in the barn, went out the next day and washed him and got him all cleaned up.”

Camels in the U.S.

An estimated 6,000 to 8,000 camels reside in the U.S., said Valeri Crenshaw, secretary-general of the North American Camel Ranch Owners Association.

The association, which formed in 2020, wants to create a formal registry, both as a census and a genetics registry for breeding, Crenshaw said. Currently, about 35 ranches are members.

The largest camel farms are dairies, with the majority “traditional Amish,” Crenshaw said. There are about 12 camel dairies in the U.S, with one in Missouri keeping 200 camels.

How does camel milk compare to cow’s milk?

“They both taste like milk,” Crenshaw said. “It does have some richer nutrients, a little bit more of your immune-building qualities.”

Customers who cannot tolerate lactose are able to drink camel milk, she said. Some studies indicate it may help manage symptoms of autism.

Other farmers own camels for breeding, fiber and recreation, including fairs, petting zoos or novelty camel races.

“And then there are some people who are just like, ‘Hey, I didn’t know I liked camels,’ and then they meet a camel and they feel like they have to have camels,” said Crenshaw, who’s owned five camels on her Kansas property for 17 years.

The U.S. is a small but respected player in the worldwide camel industry, Crenshaw said.

“We are very small,” she said. “There will be herds in the Middle East that could be as large as the population we have in the entire United States.”

Desert treks

Central Texas camel rancher Doug Baum is all-in on camels. The last four digits of his phone number spell out “HUMP.”

As a zookeeper, he worked with camels and appreciated the connection he formed in handling them, in contrast to wild animals such as lions, zebras and giraffes.

“Within a week of working with camels, I knew I wanted camels in my life forever,” Baum said.

He’s raised camels for 30 years. He has 10 camels on his farm, a mix of dromedaries and Bactrian camels, alongside cows, donkeys, sheep and goats. He owns the only multi-day “camel trek” company in North America. Customers book trips with Baum into the desert, on privately owned land.

Baum’s enterprise was inspired by the U.S. Army’s importation of camels in the same region in the 1850s.

Guests range from experienced to newcomers.

“I would never want to say that my guests are simply baggage,” Baum said with a laugh. “The camels are accustomed to what they’re doing. They’re very forgiving of green riders.”

A camel typically carries half its weight, so an 1,800-pound camel can carry 900 pounds, although for treks Baum usually limits the cargo to less than 400 pounds.

“We tend not to push them to their limits, just because we don’t have to,” he said.

Baum is excited to see global acknowledgement of the hard work camels do.

“The camel really makes it possible for these very different cultures around the globe to survive in what would generally be looked as a very forbidding environment,” he said.

Why own a camel?

Crenshaw, a fifth-generation cattle rancher, grew up around animals. She saw camels for the first time more than 30 years ago, when she and her father traveled to Egypt.

“I fell hard in love with them,” Crenshaw said. “Their personalities and intelligence level has brought me a greater connection than I ever thought possible.”

The potential for parasites requires a rancher’s diligence, but otherwise camels are “pretty easy keepers,” Crenshaw said.

“They’re really chill, they don’t have that fight or flight response like you would have with a horse,” she said. “They just want to interact with you. It’s like a relationship where they’re giving back, almost like a really good cattle dog.”

She raises camels for wool and to manage invasive plants that damage the prairie.

“They eat the things the cattle and horses won’t eat, and they love them — they eat them first,” Crenshaw said.

In fact, Crenshaw has to make sure the camels don’t eat too much.

“They’re not supposed to live in this lush buffet that we have in the flat hills and tall grass,” she said.

Camels eat about 20% of what a horse eats, need less water and are unfazed by extreme hot or cold weather.

Crenshaw tells potential camel ranchers: “You cannot buy just one.” She recommends two or more.

“They need each other, they rely on each other,” she said. “The more camels I’ve added to my herd, I can see the healthiness, the relationships that they form.”

Crenshaw estimates the cost of a camel is $14,000 to $18,000, more for a female of breeding age.

“We just don’t have enough, we need more camels in the United States,” she said.

Categorizing camels

A proposed USDA policy would include recategorizing camels as exotic animals. The change could hamper ranchers’ ability to use them in educational programs, holiday celebrations, for recreation or for production.

The association recruited “some of the greatest camel scientists from around the world” to write to the USDA in favor of classifying camels as domesticated, Crenshaw said.

Association members recently met with USDA officials. They don’t expect a final decision for at least a year.

“Camels are livestock, they serve as livestock,” Crenshaw said. “They’re not an exotic in the sense of being an undomesticated animal; they’ve been domesticated longer than llamas or horses, and no one thinks twice about putting them as livestock.”

Kyle McGranahan, owner of the Pacific Northwest Camel Co. in Oakland, Ore., offers rides at fairs and festivals across 10 Western states, along with various other events. He’d like to slightly increase his herd size, up from six, but everything depends on the USDA’s final decision.

Recategorization is potentially “devastating” for McGranahan’s business.

“This is what camels are born, bred and made for,” he said. “They’ve been used for modes of transportation for hundreds and possibly even thousands of years. We do nothing different than what they’ve been used for in the past.”

Llamas and alpacas

In honor of the international year, the Llama Association of North America requests photos and personal stories from llama owners, which it will share with the public, secretary Susan Rich said.

The industry peaked at 145,000 llamas in the 1980s, dropping to about 40,000 today, Rich said. She noted that some owners don’t register their animals.

Llamas are bred for labor, primarily as pack animals in high country, to manage weeds, or as guard animals for other livestock, including sheep, pigs and free-range poultry, Rich said.

Rich works with llamas for 4-H and FFA projects. They are also used as therapy animals.

“They are gentle animals — with llamas, your kids stay on the ground when they’re working with them,” Rich said. “You’re not going to get bucked off, they don’t bite. The worst thing that could possibly happen is you might get a little spit on you, but you can always take a shower and wash your hair.”

“Alpaca is very popular right now,” said Stacie Chavez, owner of Imperial Yarn, a commercial processor of alpaca fiber in Terrebonne, Ore. She also owns 15 alpacas at Sky Ridge Alpacas near Friday Harbor, Wash. She’s owned up to 450 alpacas.

She believes the camelid year will further heighten the demand for alpacas, as livestock and for their wool.

“Once they’re halter-trained, they’re exceptional citizens,” Chavez said. “It’s a really easy fiber. We only shear them once a year, and it’s very easy to wash. … It is something someone can do from their farm or small ranch, they could actually work with the fiber onsite and not even have to send it out for further processing.”

The Alpaca Owners Association has 2,200 members and more than 285,000 alpacas in its database.

“We believe that the inclusion of alpacas in this recognizable year is a testament to the invaluable contribution they make to our world,” the association said on its Facebook page.

The year ahead

The camel ranch owners association has been ramping up for the international marketing year, Crenshaw said.

Service trips to India and Morocco are on the agenda, for a “cultural exchange” of camel history and information.

A yearly camel clinic at the end of October in Las Vegas will bring together camel experts, owners and the public.

They’ll host monthly interactive events, including springtime “fiber hair days,” when community members can brush the animals and help harvest the fleece.

“For some reason, people love to come do that,” Crenshaw said. “I can see why, it’s a very cathartic and relaxing thing to do — and the camels love it.”

Izzy’s owner, Richards, welcomes the international marketing year.

“Camels, and I’m sure camelids, have played such a huge part in history,” he said. “They’ve been used for thousands of years. We should give homage to them a little bit, and tell them thanks. They’ve helped us civilize societies — transportation, farmwork and everything else. They’re an amazing animal.”

Camels at a glance

• There are two species of camel: the Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) and the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius).

About 90% of the world’s camels are dromedary camels, also known as the Arabian camel.

All existing dromedary camels are domesticated. There are two types of Bactrian camels: wild and domesticated.

• The dromedary camel has one hump, the Bactrian camel has two humps. They store fat in these humps, which can be used as an energy source.

• More than 3,000 years ago, camels were domesticated. They are used by humans for numerous reasons, but most often for travel across arid climates.

• Camels can survive for long periods of time without food or water. They can easily carry an extra 200 pounds and can walk about 20 miles a day through the harsh desert climate.

• Camels also provide humans with food (milk and meat) and textiles (fiber and felt from hair).

• A camel has three eyelids, and double rows of extra-long eyelashes to help keep sand out of the eyes. They are able to close their nostrils to keep out sand.

Source: “Nature,” PBS.org