- There is a third thin eyelid that the camel can see through. Hair
inside the ears helps to keep sand out.
- The hump is filled with fat. The hump will shrink if the camel does
not eat.
- They are called Ships-of-the-Desert because they can carry heavy
loads. Camels can carry as much as 1,000 pounds
- "Riding camels" can travel up to 100 miles in one day. Camel
droppings are burned as fuel.
- A camel can drink 27 gallons of water in 10 minutes
- Camels are desert animals. Very few animals live in the desert; most
of them are small, like beetles and lizards. Small animals
- can easily find shade and enough water and food, but for big animals
it is much harder.
- The African dromedary camel lives with people. It helps people to
survive in the desert by carrying the people and their things when they
move from place to place.
- People drink camel milk and use camel dung to make their fires when
there is no firewood.
- Some camels are used by farmers for working in the fields.
- The farmer trains the camel to pull a plough and carry heavy loads.
- The camel can go for some days with out drinking water. (Not more
than 10 days). The camel conserves water in his body cell and his stomach.
Conserving means he doesn't waste water through sweating, breathing
or urinating.
- He is able to live on very poor vegetation during the dry summer
months.
- The fat stored in the hump will provide him with enough energy to
reach good grazing.
- He has very long legs to keep his big body high off the hot ground.
- Even when he sits down his belly will not touch the ground, he has
a pillow like callus under his chest to balance him and make it comfortable
for him to rest on the sand, even when it is hot.
- On his knees he has very hard skin to protect him when he rests on
them.
- The young are born in the rainy season when there is plenty of grazing.
- A female camel is pregnant for about 13 months and she will only
have offspring every 2-3 years.
- The ears are small and very hairy, to keep flying sand from entering.
- The nostrils can close completely or leave just a tiny opening for
breathing.
- His coat is thick to insulate against both heat and cold. The desert
is very hot
during the day (32C.-45C.), but gets very cold at night. (Almost freezing!).
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