Camels

Presented by
Dr. William Jurgelski
USDA licensed Breeder of Camelids
Lost World Ranch

Camels

The camel has been described as a 'horse designed by a committee'. In fact the camel is unlike any other large mammal and the unique anatomic and physiologic characteristics that make it endlessly fascinating to observe and to raise are the products of evolution in some of the most in hospitable environments on earth.

Origins

The common ancestor to the camelids (the camel and their South American relatives the lamoids, the llama, alpaca, vicuna, and guanco) was a jackrabbit sized animal that appeared in North American about 50 million years ago. Forty six to forty seven million years later during the Ice Age some of these camel ancestors migrated across the Bering Strait into Asia where they evolved into the two humped or Bactrian camels adapted to the cold, high altitude deserts of northern Asia. As the two humped camels spread south, a one humped version of the Bactrian camel, the Dromedary, appeared that was better adapted to the hot deserts of the Middle East and North Africa. The now much larger ancestral forms remaining in North America either became extinct or migrated to South America where they evolved into the smaller humpless lamoids of the high Andean plateau.

Domestication and Uses

Camels were domesticated about 2500 BC. Their milk, meat, wool, hides, and draft power (equal to two oxen) were and are the only sources of survival in the very arid areas of Asia and the Middle East. Other important camel products in some societies are dung for fuel, blood for food, urine as a disinfectant, and bones for jewelry. In addition camels have been a majorvehicle for transport of people and materials. Bactrian camels, in carravans of as many as 10,000 animals, were the original pack animals on the Silk Road and both types were also used as cavalry mounts in several ancient and more recent wars.

Dromedary camels have been raced for hundreds of years. Currently in the Arabian Peninsular, racing camels sell for up to 1.5 million dollars and total prizes may reach 4-5 million dollars for a five day event.

Current Population and Distribution

Worldwide there are about 15.5 million Dromedary camels, and about 2 million Bactrain camels. Most of the Dromedaries are currently found primarily in Africa, Asia, India, and Australia. Bactrian camels today exist predominantly in Mongolia, Northern China, and Eastern Russia. In addition there are still about one thousand wild two humped camels in the Gobi desert.

Differences Between One and Two Humped Camels

The two types are embryologically identical and interbreed. Hybrids are fertile and have either one large hump or one small and one large hump. Other than in the number of humps the Bactrian camel differs from the Dromedary in thicker, longer hair with a different distribution, a larger, stronger body, and shorter legs in the Bactrian camel.

The Bactrian Camel

Mature Height

6 to 8 feet

Mature Weight

1000 to 2000 lbs.

Color

Typically various shades of brown.
White camels are extremely rare.

Behavior

Intelligent, affectionate, expressive, and vocal. More easily trained than horses.

Life Expectancy

30 years

Reproduction

Seasonal - January through June.
Induced ovulations like in rabbits and cats. The stimulus is chemical (protein in seminal fluid) rather than sensory as in other induced ovulators.
Females often fertile through out their life span.
Males are only fertile during a 5 month rut.

Gestation

402 +/- 11.5 days

Number of Young

One
Twins have never been reported.

Baggage Capacity

Up to 1000 lbs.

Wool

Wool is of high quality, dense with thick, soft undercoat and long guard hairs.
Shed in late spring, fully regrows in late fall.

Defensive Behaviors

Spitting cud - Ruminal contents that happen to be in the mouth are ejected and scattered when the animal makes a vocal complaint (like a bark). Tame camels only bark. Camels do not spit or bark unless stressed.
Pushing with their necks horizontally and vertically.
Kicking with front and hind legs - capable of 180 degree arc.

Estimated American Bactrain Populations

Brown - About 300
White - About 30 to 40
By comparison there are probably 1000 plus single humped camels in this country.

Special Adaptations of Bactrian Camels

Multiple adaptations have evolved to permit survival under conditions of scant even salt water, meager, poor quality forage and severe temperature extremes. Most of these adaptations are also present in the dromedary camel.

Humps
Most of the body fat is concentrated in the humps rather than being distributed subcutaneously to facilitate and to provide an energy reserve.

Multiple Mechanisms for Conservation and Recycling of Water

Prevent dehydration under minimal water available and high temperatures.
Camels can survive for at least 15 days without water (Cattle deprived of water die in 4 days)
The water requirement of camels is 90% less than the bovine.
Kidneys concentrate urine to twice the salt concentration of sea water and decrease urine output markedly in response to water deprivation.
Tolerate 33% loss of body water without ill effects. Most domestic animals cannot lose 10% of body water without serious problems.
Formation of dry (45% water) feces to decrease water loss.
Retention of a large volume of water in the alimantary tract.
Reduction of saliva flow.
Sweating instead of panting to save both energy and water.
Bactrian camels can apparently also utilize salt water.

Unique Mechanisms for Thermoregulation

Reduce water loss and permit survival in the desert heat.
A diurnal temperature variation of as much as 6 degrees that allows body temperature to rise during the day and fall at night thus reducing the temperature gradient between the animal and its environment and decreasing the need for cooling during the day and warming at night.
Couching (lying upright) minimizes body surface exposed to the sun and cools ground under the animal.
Pad under chest raises the animal above surface to permit evaporation of sweat.
Distribution of hair follicles allows the more efficient evaporation of sweat form the skin surface rather than at the wool tip.

Modified Ruminat Digestion

Camels regurgitate and rechew ingested forage, as ruminants but are more efficient than ruminants in extracting protein and energy from poor quality forages.

Wool Shedding

Increases heat tolerance in summer

Padded Feet

Soft pads on soles of feet increase traction on snow and sand.

Seasonal Breeding

Male Camels are only in rut (fertile) from January to June so that 90% of calves are born in the cool parts of the year.

Third Eye Lids

Protect against blowing sand and snow

Nostril Openings

Slits that can be closed at will prevent aspiration of blowing sand and snow.

Keritinized Pads over joints and Sternum

Joint pads permit kneeling on abrasive sand surfaces and a large sternal pad allows circulation under abdomen when animal lies (couches).

Split (almost prehensile) Upper lip that Extends over Lower Lip

Permits selection of the small nutritious parts of plants, shrubs, and trees and allows pick up of small food particles from the ground.
permits recovery of any moisture dripping from the nose.

Thicken Lining of Mouth and Lips

Enables browsing on the thorny shrubs and plants
A favorite food in the South east is the wild rose

Penis

Points backward between legs and is pulled forward during mating
Position possibly protects against sand and snow
Uring is directed backward

Milk

Production under average subsistence conditions of up to 5,000 pounds for a 305 day lactation. Have been reliably documented, but yields up to 2400 pounds / per lactation period of 9 months are claimed.
Milk fat is less than 4%
High in Vitamin C
A forty camel automated milking parlor for Dromedary camels has been estrablished in Saudi Arabia.

Impediments to full utilization and Possible Solutions

A slow reproduction rate currently prevents full exploitation of the camels full potential. Poor reproductive performance is due to the suppression of estrus during the lactation period in the female coupled with the five month seasonal fertility in the male. In practice if weaning is performed at six months postpartum; the male is no longer fertile when the female returns to estrus. The end result is that a female will only produce one young every two years. Potential solutions are hormonal induction of estrus during lactation and/or prolongation of annual fertility in the male either hormonally or by artificial insemination.
Embryo transfer and in vitro fertilization can be used to expedite selection of desired traits. Artificial insemination, in vitro, fertilization, and embryo transfer are being used successfully to improve racing animals in the United Arab Emirates.

Camel and Lamoid Hybridization

The Dromedary camel and the guanco have been crossbred through artificial insemination. The two hybrids that have been produced thus far do not have humps and closely resemble the guanco. The possibility of obtaining miniature, two humped, multicolored camel hybrids by crossing the bactrian camel with other lamoids (llama, alpaca) needs to be explored.