Dromedary Camel

Camels are well known for their distinctive feature: a large hump on their back. The Arabian camel, or dromedary, has one back hump, while the domesticated Bactrian camel (C. bactrianus) and the wild Bactrian camel (C. ferus) have two. These humps can store up to 80 pounds of fat, which can later be broken down into water and energy when resources are scarce. Camels are tall, with long legs and a long, curved neck. While usually tan in color, they can vary from cream to a darker brown. Their fur is short but thick, allowing it to keep them protected from the sun but also keep them warm during cold nights as temperatures plummet in the desert. They have padded feet with two toes, making them even-toed ungulates. Their knees, and usually chest, are calloused in a way to protect them from the hot sand when bending down. Dromedary camels have large nostrils and eyes, giving them excellent senses of smell and sight. They have a double layer of long eyelashes and slit-like nostrils that can close in order to protect themselves from dust storms.

Dromedary camels inhabit various areas, most notably the Middle East and Sahara Desert in Africa. They have also been known to reach as far up as Europe, and as far out as Northern India. It is believed that their ancestors originated from the Gobi Desert in China. They prefer areas with arid weather and long dry seasons, making deserts their preferred habitat.

Dromedary camels are herbivores. They feed primarily on thorny plants, dry grasses, and saltbrush. However, they can eat just about any desert plant that is available to them. Dromedary camels are adapted to survive on very little water and tolerate dehydration. In severe heat, they could go four to seven days without drinking water, but they could go even longer as long as the plants they foraged contained enough moisture.

Dromedary camels are modified ruminants, often referred to as pseudo-ruminants. True ruminants, like cattle, have a four-chambered stomach and regurgitate their food in order to re-digest the harder nutrients. However, camels (along with other animals like llamas and alpacas) only have a three-chambered stomach. When a camel swallows food, it passes into a chamber of their stomach called the rumen, where it begins to ferment and soften with the help of microbes. The animal then regurgitates this material, which is known as cud, and carries on chewing it before it can be swallowed again and properly digested.

Dromedary camels are diurnal. They are active throughout much of the day and travel in social groups of 2-20 individuals. These herds often consist of a dominant male, females, and their young. Female camels have a gestation period that lasts over a year, up to 14 months. When preparing to give birth, an expecting camel will remove herself from the herd and find a calving spot, a private area often covered with vegetation.

Newborn calves are born without humps, but smaller peaks hide under tassels of curly hair, indicating where their hump will eventually develop. A newborn camel is able to walk within half an hour after they are born, and they will reach full adult size when they are around seven years of age. The mother and her newborn calf will stay separate for about two weeks, then the mother and her young will return to the herd.

There is no special conservation status from dromedary camels, as they have not been evaluated. Currently, nearly all dromedary camels in the world are in human care. They are considered semi-domestic, and can range freely, but still under watch. The earliest evidence of these camels being domesticated was over 4,000 years ago. In the past 2,000 years, they have been considered “extinct” in the wild, and since then they have only ever lived in human care. It is believed that wild camels were hunted out of existence and rapidly domesticated.

• A group of camels is called caravan or flock.
• Camels walk by moving both legs on the same size of their body at the same time. This results in a shuffling gait, which gives them the nickname “Ship of the Desert.”
• Dromedaries need 6-8 times more salt than other animals in order to better absorb and store water. This means that 1/3 of their food must be halophytic plants,which are highly salt tolerant plants and represent only around 1% of the world's flora.

Our two resident dromedaries, Bahir and Layla, came to us from the Gladys Porter Zoo in Texas. You can easily pick them apart from each other as Bahir has a curly blonde coat and no beard, while Layla has a straight brunette coat and a long beard. Bahir is independent and often wanders off on his own. Layla on the other hand is very motivated to work with her keepers and can occasionally be seen swaying by the fence in anticipation of being fed.