BACTRIAN CAMEL

General Characteristics

Body Length: 300 cm / 10 ft. 
Shoulder Height: 180-230 cm / 6-7.6 ft. 
Tail Length: 50 cm / 20 in. 
Weight: 600-1000 kg / 1320-2200 lb.

The long, wooly coat varies in colour from dark brown to sandy beige.  There is a mane and beard of long hair on the neck and throat, with hairs up to 25 cm / 10 in long.  The shaggy winter coat is shed extremely rapidly, with huge sections peeling off at once, almost as if it were shorn off.  There are two humps on the back, which are composed of fat (not water as sometimes thought).  The face is long and somewhat triangular, with a split upper lip.  There are long eyelashes, which, along with the sealable nostrils, help to keep out dust in the frequent sandstorms which occur.  The two broad toes on each foot have undivided soles and are able to spread widely as an adaptation to walking on sand.

Ontogeny and Reproduction

Gestation Period: 12-14 months. 
Young per Birth: 1, rarely 2 
Weaning: At 1-2 years. 
Sexual Maturity: Females at 3-4 years, males around 5-6 years. 
Life span: 40 years.

The birthing season peaks in March-April.

Ecology and Behavior

Bactrian camels are extremely adept at withstanding wide variations in temperature - from freezing cold to blistering heat.  They have a remarkable ability to go without water for months at a time, but when water is available they may drink up to 57 liters at once.  When well fed, the humps are plump and erect, but as resources decline the humps shrink and lean to the side.  The rolling gait of the camel is accomplished by stepping forwards with both legs on the same side, much like the giraffe.  Speeds of up to 65 kmph / 40 mph have been recorded under extreme pressure.  As pack animals, these ungulates are virtually unsurpassed, able to carry 170-270 kg / 375-600 lbs at a rate of 47 km per day, or 4 kmph over a period of four days.  Bactrian camels are said to be good swimmers.  The sense of sight is well developed and the sense of smell is extremely good.  The population density of wild Bactrian camels is calculated to be 5 animals per 100 square kilometers.

Family group: In small groups of 6-30 females and young led by an adult male, or solitary. 
Diet: Leaves, grasses, shrubs. 
Main Predators: None known.

Distribution

Desert and steppes in the Gobi desert.

 

DROMEDARY CAMEL

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION

COMMON NAME: dromedary camel KINGDOM: Animalia PHYLUM: Chordata CLASS: Mammalia ORDER: Artiodactyla FAMILY: Bovidae GENUS SPECIES: Camelus (camel) dromedarius (running)

FAST FACTS

DESCRIPTION: Woolly coat, caramel in color that often looks shaggy from seasonal shedding. Both sexes have a single hump on the back. MALE Males are considerably larger than females and have an inflatable soft palate which they use to attract females. (It looks like a frog's throat when inflated.)

SIZE: 1.8-2.3 m (5.8-7.5 ft.) tall at shoulder

WEIGHT: 300-690 kg (661-1521 lb.)

DIET: Almost any vegetation they can find

GESTATION: 12-13 months

SEXUAL MATURITY:   MALE At 5 years FEMALE At 3-4 years

LIFE SPAN: 40-50 years

RANGE: Middle East and northern Africa; introduced to Australia and Namibia

HABITAT: Arid regions

POPULATION: GLOBAL No data

STATUS: IUCN  Not listed CITES  Not listed USFWS  Not listed

FUN FACTS

1. The dromedary camel is capable of drinking 100 L (30 gal.) of water in just 10 minutes. 2. Camels store fat in the hump, not water! In fact baby camels are born without a hump because the layer of fat does not develop until they eat solid food. 3. Unlike most mammals, a healthy camel's body temperature fluctuates throughout the day from 34°C-41.7°C (93°F-107°F.) This fluctuation is important because it allows the camel to conserve water by not sweating as the environmental temperature rises. 4. The dromedary camel is no longer considered a wild animal. In Africa and Arabia it is a semi-domesticated animal that free ranges but is under the control of herders.

ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION

One of the reasons a camel is well adapted to live in the desert is because of its feeding behavior. It selects only a few leaves from each plant. A camel is also capable of eating parts of the foliage that other species do not, such as the thorns of the acacia tree. Foraging herds of camels will spread over a large area so that they do not eat all of the vegetation. These selective styles of feeding reduce the stress on the plant life and avoids competition between camels and other arid region herbivores.