Photo by Lauren Allen
If you were hanging around Oak Cliff in 2021, you may have seen Michael Roberts walking his camel around the neighborhood.
Since going viral for walking his camel Tazah, who has since passed, Roberts has become an exotic animal trainer who travels around the country for his work.
Back in 2021, sightings of Roberts and his camel were caught on camera and posted to social media where they gained traction and received thousands of impressions. One particular photo shows Tazah and Roberts standing at a car wash, with a caption that reads, “Nothing to see here. Just a pet camel at a car wash in Dallas. Oak Cliff, Texas.”
But how on earth did somebody in Dallas end up with a pet camel?
Roberts met a good friend who became his mentor and introduced him to camels for the first time in 2015. In the beginning, he wasn’t quite sold.
“I was terrified at first,” Roberts says. “But after being around them for a few years, I was confident enough to buy my own camel.”
As crazy as it may sound, Roberts says the process of getting a camel is quite easy, as long as you have connections and know the right people.
Tazah was sick when Roberts first bought him, but after a couple of years, he was able to show him off to the world.
“I used to take him everywhere,” Roberts says. “I would just drive around with him and take him to parks and nightclubs. And everyone got a kick out of it. That’s where the enticement kept going and going and going, because I just see the looks on people’s faces when I bring him out. It was just the joy that it was bringing to people that made me keep bringing him out.”
Roberts has since gotten another camel, TJ, who is still young. He hopes to bring him out and about like he did with Tazah in a year or so.
While he is Dallas-based, Roberts spends a lot of time in Tulsa where his family is from as he has a hard time being back in the city where he lost Tazah, as well as his dog, in a trailer accident. After the accident, a GoFundMe was created which raised over $3,800.
“It was hard for me to come back, because I lost two animals in that accident. Mike Mike, my german shepherd, was [Tazah’s] best friend,” Roberts says. “I’ve kind of taken a step back so I could come back without them.”
Over the last couple of years, Roberts has been on the go traveling the U.S. and Mexico as an exotic animal trainer.
Roberts had been coached through training Tazah, and it turned out he was a natural. After Tazah passed, Roberts’ mentor suggested he start training animals for a living due to his natural gift.
“My first job was in Las Vegas, and I haven’t looked back since,” Roberts says. “It’s mostly camels that I train, but I actually know how to train giraffes, and I’ve had my hands on a couple of zebras, cattle, llamas and alpacas. I’m trying to widen my species.”
In addition to his camel, Roberts also owns a lemur and a kangaroo. His lemur hangs out with him on the regular, and you may have to do a double take if you see them in public as King Julian sits so naturally on Roberts’ shoulder.
“My lemur came from a friend slash client, and I just fell in love with him,” Roberts says.
The kangaroo does not make public appearances quite as often, but does serve as the mascot for a bounce house company in Oklahoma where he will appear at parties.
It’s been a wild ride for Roberts, but he has no plan of stopping. He says he has always been an animal lover, but didn’t imagine it would lead him to where he is today.
“I really just loved animals growing up, and I didn’t know the difference in exotics, really, as a kid I didn’t even know you could have them,” Roberts says. ”There was a few times my mom sent me out to cut the grass and I would sneak a couple of turtles into my room. And I’d catch lizards; I had iguanas. So there’s always been something there. I just hope to keep growing and doing what I’m doing. “
Yes, it’s legal to own camels in Texas. Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) has some requirements for Camelidae, which includes camels, llamas, vicuñas, and their domestic relatives. The TAHC may require testing for brucellosis or tuberculosis if there’s a risk of exposure or infection. Camels also need to have official identification if they require an official test.
