Want to buy a camel? There is now an app for that

In Al Ain, where tourists pose for photographs with camels and traders from across the Gulf negotiate deals, camel trading is taking on a digital form.

Startup Hign Al Khaleej, a name that roughly translates as “Gulf camels,” launched an online marketplace for buying, selling and auctioning camels in late 2024. By 2025, its founder and chief executive, Jaber Al Ahbabi, said the app and website had more than 15,000 users. About 3,300 camels are currently listed for sale on the platform.

Camels have been part of life across the Gulf for centuries, providing transport, meat, milk, leather and wool. They remain highly valued in the United Arab Emirates, where Abu Dhabi emirate, home to Al Ain, has about 500,000 camels. Today, they are mainly used for milk production, camel racing and beauty contests, while also drawing tourists to markets and desert excursions.

The commercial stakes can be high. At an Abu Dhabi auction in 2025, 15 camels sold for a combined 1.77 million dirhams, about 435,000 euros. One camel reached 500,000 dirhams, or about 123,000 euros, after intense bidding, according to local media. Top camels have changed hands for millions. The Al Dafra camel festival in Abu Dhabi will offer 97 million dirhams, or 22.5 million euros, in prizes for beauty contests this year.

Al Ahbabi, who grew up in a family that owned and bred racing camels, believes the market is ready for change. Selling an animal can require a seller to transport it by pickup truck over long distances without any guarantee of a deal. Buyers may also need to fly to Saudi Arabia to inspect a camel, often with little information in advance, while the animals are commonly kept and sold in desert areas outside cities. Al Ahbabi said the traditional system is costly and inefficient, and hopes Hign Al Khaleej can make the process easier.

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It is a traditional activity deeply rooted in our history and culture, so the system for buying and selling camels is quite outdated.