 |
The Bactrian Camel belongs to the Camel family and resides in Central
Asia, Mongolia and China. |
| |
|
|
Bactrian camels have long, shaggy hair which keeps them warm in the
winter. In the summer months they shed, leaving them almost naked.
The adult Bactrian camel. weighs up to 1,800 pounds and stands approximately
7 feet tall at the top of its humps. |
| |
|
|
Bactrian camels, like all camels, are herbivores and will eat grass,
hay, grain, and the leaves from bushes and trees.
|
| |
|
|
Bactrian camels
were domesticated before 2500 BC in the plateau of northern
Iran and southwestern Turkestan and then spread east to Iraq,
India and China. Most Bactrian camels are domesticated, but
there remain a few hundred wild ones in the Gobi Desert of
Mongolia.
Bactrians are well known as
beast of burden, often carrying 1000 pounds for as many as
30 miles in the scorching heat and sand of their native environment,
or in the very cold. They also provide milk, wool, meat, hides,
sinew and bone. Their fiber is used for rope, cords, fine
paint brushes and warm, long-napped cloth. |
 |
|
| |
|
The Bactrian camel hastwo humps. You may have heard that there is water
stored in the humps, but that isn't true. The humps are fat storage,
that's why they can go so long without eating (up to a month!).
Their body draws on the fat as needed and the humps get smaller
and flop over to one side if they are depleted. |
| |
|
|
Bactrian
gestation is about 370 to 445 days. Females start having babies
at around 4 and may continue to have calves until 30 years old.
Camel babies or calves weigh 80 to 130 pounds at birth. Calves have
been known to nurse for up to a year, but most wean earlier.
|
| |
|
|
Long eyebrows and
nostrils which the Bactrian camel can close protect it against the
flying sand during a desert storm. The feet have wide soles, and
the toes are connected by cushions which distribute the weight on
the loose ground. This prevents the animals from sinking into the
smooth sand of their desert home. |
| |
|
|
Camels don't sweat
until a body temperature of around 96 degrees Faranheit. On cold
nights, they can lower their temperature to 62 degrees Faranheit.
In addition, they have a very unique kind of blood. There is no
other mammal on earth whose blood can get along so easily without
water. The Bactrian camel can lose nearly a third of its body fluid
without becoming dehydrated which can resuklt in death! |
|
