This is the moment a caravan of camels chomp their way through a truckload of cardboard as their owner is unable to provide them with anything else due to a severe drought that has resulted in food shortages.

The video was captured in the Mangystau region of Kazakhstan and posted on social media by the Zhanaozen news site yesterday (15th June).

The news website Nur reports that the camels are struggling to survive as the only thing left for them to eat is cardboard.

Cardboard is made of cellulose which unlike humans, camels can in theory digestive, but it’s unclear how much nutritional value it has.

Although the camels appear to be content with their meal in the footage, local media is reporting that several camels have already died due to starvation in the region.

The region has reportedly been hit by an unprecedented drought with locals telling Nur that there was almost no rainfall at all during the spring and as a result the steppe is baron.

The local government told the news website Zakon: “Yes, we had a problem this year – drought. But at the moment, feed is already being supplied.”

They added: “Volunteers are bringing feed to the region.”

Zakon reports that camels have been dying in the region as farmers have simply not been able to feed them due to the drought.

The situation is not isolated to the Mangystau region with much of Kazakhstan in the midst of a water crisis.

The Kazakh government has already made agreements with its neighbours Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan for assistance with irrigation.

The Kazakh government has promised to provide the countries with electricity, equipment and fuels in return for hundreds of millions of cubic meters of water.