Camels were brought to Australia from the Middle East with their Afghan handlers to provide transport in the desert in the 1800s.
Now, central Australia is home to the last remaining herds of wild camels in the world. Australia even exports camels back to the Middle East.
Before you try and convince your parents to buy you one, you'll need to know that Camels can live for up to 50 years, weigh from 250 to 680kgs and grow to be over 2 metres tall!
- There are two types of camels: the Bactrian (or Asian) camel, which has two humps and the Dromedary (or Arabian) camel, has one hump. Dromedaries are the most common in Australia.
- The Bactrian is shorter and stockier and can endure variable temperatures (from hot desert in Northern Iran to freezing Tibetan winters). It has longer, finer wool than the Dromedary.
- A female is a cow, a male is a bull and a baby is a calf.
- When calves are born they weigh 30-40kgs but by the time they're adults, they weigh around 500-600kgs. They get to this size at 6-7 years but can live up to 50 years. Calves remain close to their mother until they are around 5 years old.
- The camel's nickname "Ships of the Desert" comes from their walk. Like a giraffe, the camel moves both legs on one side of its body at the same time, then the other side. The rolling motion resembles a ship at sea.
- Camel wool is of high quality and is used in the Arab world for rug-making and clothing. A camel sheds around 2kgs of wool every time they moult.
- Camels can be milked, but the flavour is an acquired taste. Dairy herds are kept in parts of the Middle East.
- Llamas are very closely related to camels. In fact a camel cross llama was bred in Dubai in 1997. It was called Rama the Cama.
Camels have adapted to living in deserts in many ways
- The hump is full of fat, not water. It will shrink if the camel doesn't eat. Baby camels are born without a hump. They need start eating solids before they'll develop one (or two).
- They have a double row of long curly eye lashes to keep sand and dust out and and a third eyelid acts as a windshield wiper, moving from side to side to wipe the sand away.
- They also have a ridge and thick bushy eyebrows to shade their eyes from the sun.
- Even though their ears are quite small, they have excellent hearing. They have fur inside their ears to keep sand and dust out.
- They can close their nostrils to keep sand out.
- Their feet are soft and spread out so they won't sink in the sand. They have two toes on each foot joined by a tough web and leathery padded souls.
- They form leathery pads on their knees for kneeling.
- They moult in spring and grow a new coat by autumn.
- They gulp down their food without chewing, then regurgitate & chew the cud later.
- In the wild camels get most of the water they need from the plants they eat but in captivity they might not get enough. They need 30-40 litres of water each, every day. If they are extremely thirsty they can drink 100 litres in 10 minutes.
- Their natural diet is quite high in salt, so in captivity they should be provided with a salt block to lick.