Camel

The camel is a large mammal that lives in the deserts and dry grasslands of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. There are two main kinds. The dromedary camel has one hump and lives mostly in hot deserts. The Bactrian camel has two humps and lives in the colder deserts of Central Asia. A full-grown camel stands about seven feet tall at the hump and can weigh 1,500 pounds, as much as a large horse.

People often think a camel's hump stores water. It does not. The hump is a big lump of fat. When food is hard to find, the camel's body breaks down the fat for energy. A hungry camel's hump shrinks and flops to one side. Once the camel eats well again, the hump fills back out.

Camels are built for life without much water. Their thick fur blocks the sun and keeps the skin cool. Long eyelashes and bushy eyebrows protect their eyes from blowing sand. They can close their nostrils to keep sand out. Wide, padded feet spread out as they step, which keeps the camel from sinking into soft dunes. A camel can go a week or more without drinking, and months without food, as long as the hump has fat.

Camels have lived with humans for about 3,000 years. People ride them, load them with goods, drink their milk, and weave their hair into cloth. For hundreds of years, giant groups of camels called caravans carried silk, spices, gold, and salt across the Sahara Desert and along the Silk Road. A single camel can carry 400 pounds for 25 miles a day. No other pack animal handles desert travel so well.

There is one wild kind left, the wild Bactrian camel of the Gobi Desert. Fewer than 1,000 remain, and scientists list them as critically endangered. Almost every other camel on Earth is a tame one or the descendant of tame ones.

Camels can be grumpy. They spit a smelly mix of saliva and stomach juice when they are angry or scared. They also kick and bite. Still, people in many cultures treasure them. In parts of Saudi Arabia, a prize-winning camel can sell for more than a million dollars. Each year, thousands of camels travel to the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, where judges award prizes for the most beautiful eyelashes, lips, and humps.