Camel

1. The oldest known camel is Protylopus, appeared 40-50 million years ago in North America. It had the size of a rabbit and lived in forests. Later, camels spread to the savanna and increased their size. In Oligocene, 35 million years ago, Poebrotherium had the size of a roe deer, but already resembled a camel.

2. There are 17 million camels worldwide. 90 % are dromedaries or Arabian camels and 75 % of the dromedaries are found in North/East Africa. 50 % of the world’s dromaderies are found in Sudan and Somalia, in semidesert areas. 15-20,000 bewildered dromaderies roam western and central Australia.

3. Dromedary could have been domesticated in southwestern Arabia between 6,000 to 3,400 years ago, initially for their milk, while the larger and slower Bactrian camel in Northeastern Iran and southwestern Central Asia about 3,500 years ago. From Arabia, dromedaries entered Somalia, 3,500 years ago, and by 500 BC they reached the Atlantic coast.

4.Camels are gregarious and well adapted to their environment, the desert. They can carry heavy cargoes, stand sand storms and large temperature differences. Camels are called the “desert ships“, and they can swim when they encounter water. The north Egyptian Lake Borollos has a depth varying between 20 cm and 2 m. It cannot be crossed by boat or vehicles, and only camels can be used in this case.

5.The camels’ humps are reservoirs of fatty tissue. A full hump has 10-15 kg. When this fat is metabolized, it is not only a source of energy, but yields through reaction with oxygen from the air 1,111 g of water per 1,000 g of fat converted.

7. Camels walk 3 km per day looking for food, on average 3 hours, and disperse when food is scarce. They require 10-20 kg of fresh food daily, depending on the animal’s size. If working, the food requirement is of 30-50 kg per day. They spend 8-12 hours per day eating.

8. Camels mate all year round, but they have a favorable period when vegetation is lush. The male is extremely aggressive during mating period. During the arousal, he shows off his teeth, salivate abundantly, and the epidermic glands of the neck and shoulders are extremely active. He urinates frequently, and keeps the head and the fore limbs as raised as possible. Males possess an organ called dulla, like a pink bladder, normally harbored in the throat. During the rut period, the male throws the dulla out of his mouth in a display dominance. Dulla hangs like an inflated pink tongue and at the same time the male burbles, a disgusting sight to most humans.

9. Camels are gregarious. Free roaming camels form groups of 6-30 individuals, made of one male, several females with offspring. The rest of the males are solitary of form bachelor groups. There may be groups of females lacking males.

10. One of the worst habits of the camels is spitting. A distressed camel will spit a fetid stream coming from its first stomach chamber, especially when angry, frustrated or spooked, a real chemical bomb.