What would it take to make camels as ubiquitous in Europe as they are in the Middle East?
Either as a beast of burden, or as a food source.
I think you'd either have to do away with horses or turn Europe into a desert. Camels have their uses, but in the fertile lands of Europe, horses are better...
I think you'd either have to do away with horses or turn Europe into a desert. Camels have their uses, but in the fertile lands of Europe, horses are better...
I think Bactrian camels would do better in a European climate, however I'm pretty sure that Dromedaries are better for battle and such...
Otherwise, camels would have been used more often.
There are places in Europe suitable for Bactrian camels, such as Ukraine and Hungary. I'm sure they wouldn't fare too badly in Castille, either. But what would really be interesting, is to have them brought over to the Americas. They'd do great in the Argentinian pampa, the Altiplano, not to mention the colder regions of the Western US.It depends on what kind of camel: Bactrian camels are better suited a steppe environement, with lots of grass and open space. Dromedaries are found in the wild only in desert areas, so they would probably do pretty poorly in the temperate climate of most of Europe, not to mention the cold northern part.
I think Bactrian camels would do better in a European climate, however I'm pretty sure that Dromedaries are better for battle and such...
horses are faster, easier to handle, and IIRC, mature faster than camels. Plus, they were bred to pull plows and wagons. Camels are more useful for certain things, but in Europe, horses are better. Otherwise, camels would have been used more often.
I believe that the same was done to bring the monkeys to Gibraltar could bring the camels to EuropeWhat would it take to make camels as ubiquitous in Europe as they are in the Middle East? Either as a beast of burden, or as a food source.
What effects would this have?
Are camels harder to train and handle than horses? Or is that an exaggeration?
Isn't that a bit like saying Potatoes wouldn't have made a difference in Roman agriculture, because they would have been eaten if they had?
.
Also, especially in a densely populated area, you run into the problem that horses really hate camels and react very badly to them - one of the few military uses of camels being to disrupt cavalry formations.
no, because the Romans didn't have access to potatoes, whereas Europe did have access to camels, and never made much use of them.
actually, it's horses that weren't used to camels who were so disrupted by them. Horses can be acclimated to camels, just like they can be to gunfire, it just takes training...