Climate impact concerns mount as herders turn to hardy camels

A camel drinks water. [File, Standard]

In September, 24 camels at Kapiti Research Station in Machakos County wore light harnesses for four weeks. Each harness held canisters that slowly filled with the animal's breath over 24 hours. Inside them was an answer Kenya has never had: how much methane a camel releases.

The trial, run by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the French agricultural research centre CIRAD, is the first in Africa to measure camel methane directly. It comes as more herders in the drylands swap cattle for camels, and as no one can say what that switch does to the country's emissions.