In Mongolia’s easternmost province of Dornod an auspicious omen is believed to have occurred – a camel has given birth to twins. Mongolian herders, for whom the camel is one of the ‘five special animals’, the others being the horse, the sheep, the goat and cattle (cows and yaks), are deeply superstitious and see the birth of the baby camels as a good sign.  

An ‘ingen’, as a female camel is known, belonging to herder Kh.Munkhbold gave birth to twins in a normal delivery in the Bayantumen soum of Dornod province. The herder said, it was one of the rarest cases he has ever seen..

The governor of the province, M.Badamsuren, visited the herder’s home and honoured the new born twins with a ‘silver camel peg’.

Over the past 26 years, the number of Kh.Munkhbold’s livestock has risen to 5000. Currently he has over 40 camels since he bought two of the animals 15 years ago. He explained that five of his 10 female camels give birth annually Interest in camels runs in his family: his father L.Kheree, who was a journalist at Mongolian Radio, initiated the ‘Camel’ sub-project for increasing the number of camels in the province.