Needles & Haystacks
Like many elder Bactrian camels in the wild and captivity, 25-year old Naomi suffers from arthritis. Unlike many elder Bactrian camels, Naomi receives acupuncture treatments to alleviate the pain in her joints. Dr. Barb Royal, a private-practice veterinarian and animal-acupuncture specialist, inserts about a dozen needles into the camel’s hips, legs, rump and, yes, between her humps on a biweekly basis.

“Every point on the body is connected to every other point,” says Royal, who
for eight years has been treating everything from birds to elephants through her local Royal Treatment Veterinary Spa.

The needles are similar to those used for large humans—about three inches long. She massages Naomi’s body looking for knots in the muscles, divots in the joints or hot spots on the skin. In winter, a thick hide and dense fur makes inserting the needles more challenging than in warmer months. But Naomi, who’s been receiving acupuncture since October, accepts the treatment with little more than a few grunts.

“Since we’ve started doing this program Naomi has increased mobility and less discomfort in her legs,” says Antelope & Zebra Area Lead Keeper Penny Reidy, who also oversees acupuncture treatments for Grevy’s zebra Bobbi.

As with human patients, acupuncture stimulates blood flow and nerve reactions in camels. But unlike the acupuncture treatments you might receive, Naomi gets hers under the watchful, wary eyes of the neighboring alpaca.