I'm not really a fan of camels , spitty , ugly and temperamental animals that they are ( reminds me of some humans ) .However i am predisposed to a well presented foot . lol. I recently made the acquaintance of a fellow shoe maker and leather worker from Alice springs in central Australia . He gifted me a tin of his own brand of camel dubbin leather dressing made from the fat of the hump . I didn't think to ask about the source of this hump fat and how it was obtained let alone ask about the qualities of its leather . I do know that wild camels are rounded up and exported to the middle east for their meat but i am not sure if they are shipped live or as frozen meat . If they are shipped frozen then the skins are disposed of because i don't think there are any viable tanneries in or close to camel country . They may on the other hand be salted and exported green along with cowhides to tanneries around the world for processing into leather.To be honest i have never really given it much thought before. It could in theory be financially viable under some circumstances . You would need to round them up , pen them and transport then to an slaughter house . The skins would go to a tannery and the meat to be butchered . Camel hair is world renowned for its fineness and thermal properties but i think the wool is shorn at a certain time of year and you need i live tame live camel to do that . Is the meat tasty and marketable ? who knows . If i ever come across some i would be happy to give it a try. I am sure NSW lwaether could source you some if you wanted it .After all they sell veg tanned Kangaroo scrotum's , so why not camel leather
About 40 years ago i met a bloke who lived out in the desert who was once a cameleer . He told me he made the saddle bags for his camels out of camel leather as well as old carpet. Again i didn't inquire further as he sort scared me and was as we say in Australia a bit on the nose .
Below is a link to the website of James B young , the bloke from Alice .If you contact him he might be able to enlighten you and us all
https://www.jamesbyoung.com.au/
