There were 60,000 camels at Pushkar Fair this year, according the BBC’s Susie Emmett. But their numbers are falling. BBC Radio 4’s From Our Own Correspondent programme of 23 December 2004 included a segment on problems facing Raika camel breeders in Rajasthan. Many female camels are now sold for meat – breaking a longstanding taboo among the Raika. They are forced to sell the camels because the animals have nowhere to graze, says LPPS Director Hanwant Singh Rathore.