Pack animal

A pack animal, also known as a sumpter animal or beast of burden, is an individual or type of working animal used by humans as means of transporting materials by attaching them so their weight bears on the animal's back, in contrast to draft animals which pull loads but do not carry them.

Traditional pack animals are diverse including camels, goats, yaks, reindeer, water buffaloes, and llamas as well as the more familiar pack animals like horses, donkeys, and mules.

Pack versus draft

The term pack animal is traditionally used in contrast to draft animal, which is a working animal that typically pulls a load behind itself (such as a plow, a cart, a sled or a heavy log) rather than carrying cargo directly on its back. For instance, sled dogs pull loads but do not normally carry them, while working elephants have been used for centuries to haul logs out of forests.

Diversity
Traditional pack animals include ungulates such as camels, the domestic yak, reindeer, goats, water buffaloes and llama, and domesticated members of the horse family including horses, donkeys, and mules.  Occasionally, dogs can be used to carry small loads.

Uses

Hauling of goods in wagons with horses and oxen gradually displaced the use of packhorses, which had been important until the Middle Ages, by the sixteenth century.

Pack animals may be fitted with pack saddles and may also carry saddlebags.

While traditional usage of pack animals by nomadic tribespeople is declining, a new market is growing in the tourist expeditions industry in regions such as the High Atlas mountains of Morocco, allowing visitors the comfort of backpacking with animals.  The use of pack animals "is considered a valid means of viewing and experiencing" some National Parks in America, subject to guidelines and closed areas.

In the 21st century, special forces have received guidance on the use of horses, mules, llamas, camels, dogs, and elephants as pack animals.

Load carrying capacity

The maximum load for a camel is roughly 300 kg.

Yaks are loaded differently according to region. In Sichuan,  is carried for 30 km in 6 hours. In Qinghai, at 4100 m altitude, packs of up to  are routinely carried, while up to  is carried by the heaviest steers for short periods.

Llamas can carry roughly a quarter of their body weight, so an adult male of  can carry some .

Loads for equids are disputed. The US Army specifies a maximum of 20 percent of body weight for mules walking up to 20 miles a day in mountains, giving a load of up to about . However an 1867 text mentioned a load of up to . In India, the prevention of cruelty rules (1965) limit mules to  and ponies to .

Reindeer can carry up to 40 kg for a prolonged period in mountains.

Pack animals by region

 Arctic - reindeer, sled dog
 Central Africa and South Africa - ox, mule, donkey 
 Central Asia - Bactrian camel, yak, mule, donkey 
 Eurasia - donkey, ox, horse, mule
 North America - horse, mule, donkey, goat
 North Africa and Middle East - dromedary camel, horse, donkey, mule, ox
 Oceania - donkey, horse, dromedary camel, mule, ox
 South America - llama, donkey, mule 
 South and Southeast Asia - water buffalo, yak, Asian elephant

See also

 Pack station

References

External links

Llama Backpacking Documentary produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting

 
Category:Domesticated animals
Category:Animal-powered transport
Category:Military animals