Association of Environmental Temperature and Relative Humidity with Ocular and Flank Temperatures in Dromedary Camels
Heat stress represents significant challenges for livestock, adversely affecting their production, reproduction, and overall welfare. This study aimed to explore the interrelationships between environmental and animal-related factors and the flank temperature (FT) and eye temperature (ET) recorded u...
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MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| author | Asim Faraz Naod Thomas Masebo Syeda Maryam Hussain Abdul Waheed Hafiz Muhammad Ishaq Nasir Ali Tauqir Ali Raza Abbasi Faizan Saleem Barbara Padalino |
| author_facet | Asim Faraz Naod Thomas Masebo Syeda Maryam Hussain Abdul Waheed Hafiz Muhammad Ishaq Nasir Ali Tauqir Ali Raza Abbasi Faizan Saleem Barbara Padalino |
| author_sort | Asim Faraz |
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| description | Heat stress represents significant challenges for livestock, adversely affecting their production, reproduction, and overall welfare. This study aimed to explore the interrelationships between environmental and animal-related factors and the flank temperature (FT) and eye temperature (ET) recorded using IRT in dromedary camels. This study was conducted in the Cholistan Desert in 2023, and IRT images of the eyes and flanks were captured from 510 camels across 54 herds. During the image analyses, pictures taken from 499 camels were of good quality and included. The camels were of both sexes and of various ages (minimum 3 years, pubertal and adult stages), and they had diverse physiological statuses (breeding, immature, lactating, non-lactating, and pregnant). Before taking the IRT pictures, ambient temperature and humidity were registered using a weather station, and light intensity was recorded using a lux meter. The ET was associated only with physiological status (<i>p</i> < 0.05), with pregnant females showing the lowest values, while no effects of physiological status, sex, or age were found for FT. The environmental temperature showed a positive correlation with both ET (r = 0.7887) and FT (r = 0.6280), highlighting the sensitivity of camel thermoregulation to temperature fluctuations. As expected, a strong positive correlation between ET and FT (r = 0.6643) was found. Conversely, a significant negative correlation was observed between humidity and ET (−0.7444) and FT (−0.5519), indicating that higher humidity levels lead to decreased temperatures in both regions. Light intensity (lux) exhibited minimal influence on both temperatures, with correlations of 0.1019 for ET and 0.2650 for FT. This study contributes to the field of precision livestock farming by suggesting a possible application of IRT for detecting thermal stress in camels in pastoral settings. |
| format | Article |
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| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj-art-5f3cd63d81ac4861a38b9be4d8a71af52025-08-20T02:12:37ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152025-01-0115330910.3390/ani15030309Association of Environmental Temperature and Relative Humidity with Ocular and Flank Temperatures in Dromedary CamelsAsim Faraz0Naod Thomas Masebo1Syeda Maryam Hussain2Abdul Waheed3Hafiz Muhammad Ishaq4Nasir Ali Tauqir5Ali Raza Abbasi6Faizan Saleem7Barbara Padalino8Department of Livestock and Poultry Production, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, PakistanDepartment of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, ItalyDepartment of Livestock Production and Management, Pir Mehr Ali Shah—Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46300, PakistanDepartment of Livestock and Poultry Production, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, PakistanDepartment of Livestock and Poultry Production, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, PakistanDepartment of Animal Nutrition, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Punjab 63100, PakistanFaculty of Veterinary Science, Muhammad Nawaz Shareef University of Agriculture, Multan 66000, PakistanDepartment of Livestock and Poultry Production, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, PakistanDepartment of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, ItalyHeat stress represents significant challenges for livestock, adversely affecting their production, reproduction, and overall welfare. This study aimed to explore the interrelationships between environmental and animal-related factors and the flank temperature (FT) and eye temperature (ET) recorded using IRT in dromedary camels. This study was conducted in the Cholistan Desert in 2023, and IRT images of the eyes and flanks were captured from 510 camels across 54 herds. During the image analyses, pictures taken from 499 camels were of good quality and included. The camels were of both sexes and of various ages (minimum 3 years, pubertal and adult stages), and they had diverse physiological statuses (breeding, immature, lactating, non-lactating, and pregnant). Before taking the IRT pictures, ambient temperature and humidity were registered using a weather station, and light intensity was recorded using a lux meter. The ET was associated only with physiological status (<i>p</i> < 0.05), with pregnant females showing the lowest values, while no effects of physiological status, sex, or age were found for FT. The environmental temperature showed a positive correlation with both ET (r = 0.7887) and FT (r = 0.6280), highlighting the sensitivity of camel thermoregulation to temperature fluctuations. As expected, a strong positive correlation between ET and FT (r = 0.6643) was found. Conversely, a significant negative correlation was observed between humidity and ET (−0.7444) and FT (−0.5519), indicating that higher humidity levels lead to decreased temperatures in both regions. Light intensity (lux) exhibited minimal influence on both temperatures, with correlations of 0.1019 for ET and 0.2650 for FT. This study contributes to the field of precision livestock farming by suggesting a possible application of IRT for detecting thermal stress in camels in pastoral settings.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/3/309thermographydromedary camelsphysiologythermal stressselective brain cooling |
| spellingShingle | Asim Faraz Naod Thomas Masebo Syeda Maryam Hussain Abdul Waheed Hafiz Muhammad Ishaq Nasir Ali Tauqir Ali Raza Abbasi Faizan Saleem Barbara Padalino Association of Environmental Temperature and Relative Humidity with Ocular and Flank Temperatures in Dromedary Camels Animals thermography dromedary camels physiology thermal stress selective brain cooling |
| title | Association of Environmental Temperature and Relative Humidity with Ocular and Flank Temperatures in Dromedary Camels |
| title_full | Association of Environmental Temperature and Relative Humidity with Ocular and Flank Temperatures in Dromedary Camels |
| title_fullStr | Association of Environmental Temperature and Relative Humidity with Ocular and Flank Temperatures in Dromedary Camels |
| title_full_unstemmed | Association of Environmental Temperature and Relative Humidity with Ocular and Flank Temperatures in Dromedary Camels |
| title_short | Association of Environmental Temperature and Relative Humidity with Ocular and Flank Temperatures in Dromedary Camels |
| title_sort | association of environmental temperature and relative humidity with ocular and flank temperatures in dromedary camels |
| topic | thermography dromedary camels physiology thermal stress selective brain cooling |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/3/309 |
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