Highly social, camels live in herds with a dominant adult male; males that have been chased out of the group form bachelor herds. They make many sounds, including moaning and groaning sounds, high-pitched bleats, loud bellows, and rumbling roars. Mothers and their newborns hum to each other. A friendly way one camel may greet another is by blowing in its face. Various positions of the head, neck, ears, and tail have different meanings in camel society, too. For example, ears forward indicates alertness; the tail curled over the back is a sign of submission.
Baby humps. When she is about a give birth, an expectant mother removes herself from the herd and finds a private area covered with vegetation for her calving spot. After a gestation of 12 to 14 months, a newborn camel is able to walk beside the mother within half an hour. The calf has no humps but small peaks of hide, each topped with a tassel of curly hair to indicate where the humps will form. Mother and young return to the herd in about two weeks. Camel calves nurse for 10 to 18 months, depending on whether it is a Bactrian or dromedary camel and the availability of food.
They do not reach full adult size until about age seven. Humans have depended on camels since ancient times. They were even brought to the US in the mids as a potential source of transportation across the West, as well as a replacement for beef cattle. Bactrian camels, however, are at critical risk, facing a decline as they are hunted for sport or killed because they compete with domestic camels and livestock for grazing and watering spots.
They are also hunted for their meat. Their habitat is also being taken over by illegal mining operations. There are currently about Bactrian camels in China and about in Mongolia. Mother camels carry their calves up to 14 months before giving birth. Some calves are born completely white and turn brown as their adult coat comes in. There are over words for camel in Arabic alone. You may also be interested in. What is a mule? Read More. Common Name: Bactrian Camel. Scientific Name: Camelus bactrianus.
Type: Mammals. Diet: Herbivore. Group Name: Flock, caravan. Size: Over 7 feet tall at the hump. Weight: 1, pounds. Size relative to a 6-ft man:. Critically endangered. Least Concern Extinct. Current Population Trend: Decreasing. Share Tweet Email. Go Further. Although many animals store fat around their stomachs and sides, camels pack on the pounds vertically.
One theory is that camels have a stomach callus which they lay directly in the sand, and belly fat could make it harder to lay this way, Schwartz said. Another theory is that being tall and narrow, with fat stored in humps instead of around the sides, means camels are exposed to less sunlight and less heat. Because camel humps store food, the dromedaries need other ways to cope with water scarcity. For example, camels can can drink up to 30 gallons liters of water in one sitting, they excrete dry feces to retain water, and their kidneys efficiently remove toxins from water in the body so they can retain as much as possible, Schwartz explained.
Camels have several other ways to make each drink of water go far, such as by catching moisture from every breath they exhale through their nose.
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