At 27 years old, a Bactrian camel living on a farm in New Mexico, USA, has just been recognized by the Guinness World Records as the “oldest living Bactrian camel in the world.”
The camel’s name is Dalai, born in January 1996, and has been acknowledged by the Guinness World Records as the oldest living Bactrian camel in human care, just after celebrating its 27th birthday last month.
Dalai has just been recognized by the Guinness World Records as the oldest living Bactrian camel in the world. (Photo: guinnessworldrecords)
A representative from the Guinness World Records stated that at the time of this record being acknowledged, Dalai had lived 108 days longer than the previously recognized oldest Bactrian camel, a llama named Rapper, who lived in Washington, USA. Llama Rapper lived for 26 years and 328 days before passing away in May 2022. The average lifespan of a Bactrian camel is around 20 years.
Since the age of 14, Dalai has been living on the Albuquerque farm owned by Andrew Thomas and Jill “Kee” Straits. Mr. Thomas shared that their daughter used to ride Dalai when she was little. Now that she has grown up, she is able to help care for Dalai when the camel needs fly spray or eye drops.
Andrew Thomas and Jill “Kee” Straits mentioned that Dalai’s health remains very good. The famous camel often spends the day playing with its closest friend, a Nigerian Dwarf goat named Gelato.
