11:21am UK, Wednesday March 20, 2002

What do you get when you cross a camel with a llama? There is no punchline - just a cama named Rama.

It is no joke that a British vet has created the new species at the Camel Research Centre in the United Arab Emirates.

sp cama camel llama cross breed

The animal, two years in the making, has weighed in at a healthy 5.5kg.

Lulu Skidmore, chief scientific officer, says Rama has the sought-after coat of a llama with the endurance of a camel.

Spitting

It has not inherited the characteristic hump of its camel father and scientists are hoping the new breed will be less temperamental than the spitting species.

If Rama survives to adulthood, there are hopes the cama might become the ideal pack animal in the harsh desert conditions.

And so he's not lonely, Rama has recently been joined by a female cama called Kamilah.