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A camel (from Template:Langx and Template:Langx (Template:Transliteration) from Ancient Semitic: gāmāl<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus Camelus that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provide food (camel milk and meat) and textiles (fiber and felt from camel hair). Camels are working animals especially suited to their desert habitat and are a vital means of transport for passengers and cargo. There are three surviving species of camel. The one-humped dromedary makes up 94% of the world's camel population, and the two-humped Bactrian camel makes up 6%. The wild Bactrian camel is a distinct species that is not ancestral to the domestic Bactrian camel, and is now critically endangered, with fewer than 1,000 individuals.
The word camel is also used informally in a wider sense, where the more correct term is "camelid", to include all seven species of the family Camelidae: the true camels (the above three species), along with the "New World" camelids: the llama, the alpaca, the guanaco, and the vicuña, which belong to the separate tribe Lamini.<ref name=bornstein10>Template:Cite journal</ref> Camelids originated in North America during the Eocene, with the ancestor of modern camels, Paracamelus, migrating across the Bering land bridge into Asia during the late Miocene, around 6 million years ago.
TaxonomyEdit
Extant speciesEdit
Three species are extant:<ref name="Burger_al.2019">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Chuluunbaat_al.2014">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Template:Species table/row Template:Species table/end
BiologyEdit
The average life expectancy of a camel is 40 to 50 years.<ref name="nationalgeo-bactrian">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A full-grown adult dromedary camel stands Template:Convert at the shoulder and Template:Convert at the hump.<ref name=camello>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Bactrian camels can be a foot taller. Camels can run at up to Template:Convert in short bursts and sustain speeds of up to Template:Convert.<ref name=bigfacts>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Bactrian camels weigh Template:Convert and dromedaries Template:Convert. The widening toes on a camel's hoof provide supplemental grip for varying soil sediments.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The male dromedary camel has an organ called a dulla in his throat, a large, inflatable sac that he extrudes from his mouth when in rut to assert dominance and attract females. It resembles a long, swollen, pink tongue hanging out of the side of the camel's mouth.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Camels mate by having both male and female sitting on the ground, with the male mounting from behind.<ref>Template:Cite video</ref> The male usually ejaculates three or four times within a single mating session.<ref name=mukasa81 /> Camelids are the only ungulates to mate in a sitting position.<ref name=sandiegozoo>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Anchor
Ecological and behavioral adaptationsEdit
It is a common myth that a camel stores water in its hump,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but the humps in fact are reservoirs of fatty tissue, which can be used as a reserve source of calories, not water. When this tissue is metabolized, it yields a greater mass of water than that of the fat processed. This fat metabolization, while releasing energy, causes water to evaporate from the lungs during respiration (as oxygen is required for the metabolic process): overall, there is a net decrease in water.<ref name=vannjones>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=rastogi71>Template:Cite book</ref>
Camels have a series of physiological adaptations that allow them to withstand long periods of time without any external source of water.<ref name="roberts86">Template:Cite book</ref> The dromedary camel can drink as seldom as once every 10 days even under very hot conditions, and can lose up to 30% of its body mass due to dehydration.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> They can drink up to 20 gallons at a time but this is stored in the animal's bloodstream, not, as popularly believed, in its humps.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Unlike other mammals, camels' red blood cells are oval rather than circular in shape. This facilitates the flow of red blood cells during dehydration<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and makes them better at withstanding high osmotic variation without rupturing when drinking large amounts of water.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=mares99>Template:Cite book</ref>
Camels are able to withstand changes in body temperature and water consumption that would kill most other mammals. Their temperature ranges from Template:Convert at dawn and steadily increases to Template:Convert by sunset, before they cool off at night again.<ref name=roberts86 /> In general, to compare between camels and the other livestock, camels lose only 1.3 liters of fluid intake every day while the other livestock lose 20 to 40 liters per day.<ref>Breulmann, M., Böer, B., Wernery, U., Wernery, R., El Shaer, H., Alhadrami, G., ... Norton, J. (2007). "The Camel From Tradition to Modern Times" (PDF). UNESCO DOHA OFFICE.</ref> Maintaining the brain temperature within certain limits is critical for animals; to assist this, camels have a rete mirabile, a complex of arteries and veins lying very close to each other which utilizes countercurrent blood flow to cool blood flowing to the brain.<ref name="Inside Nature's Giants">Inside Nature's Giants. Channel 4 (UK) documentary. Transmitted 30 August 2011</ref> Camels rarely sweat, even when ambient temperatures reach Template:Convert.<ref name="nationalgeo-dromedary">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Any sweat that does occur evaporates at the skin level rather than at the surface of their coat; the heat of vaporization therefore comes from body heat rather than ambient heat. Camels can withstand losing 25% of their body weight in water, whereas most other mammals can withstand only about 12–14% dehydration before cardiac failure results from circulatory disturbance.<ref name=mares99/>
When the camel exhales, water vapor becomes trapped in their nostrils and is reabsorbed into the body as a means to conserve water.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Camels eating green herbage can ingest sufficient moisture in milder conditions to maintain their bodies' hydrated state without the need for drinking.<ref name=fao94>Template:Cite book</ref>
The camel's thick coat insulates it from the intense heat radiated from desert sand; a shorn camel must sweat 50% more to avoid overheating.<ref>Template:Cite book Cited in {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During the summer the coat becomes lighter in color, reflecting light as well as helping avoid sunburn.<ref name=mares99 /> The camel's long legs help by keeping its body farther from the ground, which can heat up to Template:Convert.<ref name=bronxzoo>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=rundel05>Template:Cite book</ref> Dromedaries have a pad of thick tissue over the sternum called the pedestal. When the animal lies down in a sternal recumbent position, the pedestal raises the body from the hot surface and allows cooling air to pass under the body.<ref name="Inside Nature's Giants"/>
Camels' mouths have a thick leathery lining, allowing them to chew thorny desert plants. Long eyelashes and ear hairs, together with nostrils that can close, form a barrier against sand. If sand gets lodged in their eyes, they can dislodge it using their translucent third eyelid (also known as the nictitating membrane). The camels' gait and widened feet help them move without sinking into the sand.<ref name=bronxzoo /><ref name=silverstein08>Template:Cite book</ref>
The kidneys and intestines of a camel are very efficient at reabsorbing water. Camels' kidneys have a 1:4 cortex to medulla ratio.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Thus, the medullary part of a camel's kidney occupies twice as much area as a cow's kidney. Secondly, renal corpuscles have a smaller diameter, which reduces surface area for filtration. These two major anatomical characteristics enable camels to conserve water and limit the volume of urine in extreme desert conditions.<ref name="Rehan08">Rehan S and AS Qureshi, 2006. Microscopic evaluation of the heart, kidneys and adrenal glands of one-humped camel calves (Camelus dromedarius) using semi automated image analysis system. J Camel Pract Res. 13(2): 123 </ref> Camel urine comes out as a thick syrup, and camel faeces are so dry that they do not require drying when used to fuel fires.<ref name=davidson06 /><ref name="davidson-kidney">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=junglestore>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=fedewa00 />
The camel immune system differs from those of other mammals. Normally, the Y-shaped antibody molecules consist of two heavy (or long) chains along the length of the Y, and two light (or short) chains at each tip of the Y.<ref name="Camelized" /> Camels, in addition to these, also have antibodies made of only two heavy chains, a trait that makes them smaller and more durable.<ref name="Camelized" /> These "heavy-chain-only" antibodies, discovered in 1993, are thought to have developed 50 million years ago, after camelids split from ruminants and pigs.<ref name="Camelized" >Template:Cite journal</ref>
The parasite Trypanosoma evansi causes the disease surra in camels.<ref name="Sazmand-Joachim-2017">Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:RP
GeneticsEdit
The karyotypes of different camelid species have been studied earlier by many groups,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> but no agreement on chromosome nomenclature of camelids has been reached. A 2007 study flow sorted camel chromosomes, building on the fact that camels have 37 pairs of chromosomes (2n=74), and found that the karyotype consisted of one metacentric, three submetacentric, and 32 acrocentric autosomes. The Y is a small metacentric chromosome, while the X is a large metacentric chromosome.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
The hybrid camel, a hybrid between Bactrian and dromedary camels, has one hump, though it has an indentation Template:Convert deep that divides the front from the back. The hybrid is Template:Convert at the shoulder and Template:Convert tall at the hump. It weighs an average of Template:Convert and can carry around Template:Convert, which is more than either the dromedary or Bactrian can.<ref name=potts>Template:Cite journal</ref>
According to molecular data, the wild Bactrian camel (C. ferus) separated from the domestic Bactrian camel (C. bactrianus) about 1 million years ago.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> New World and Old World camelids diverged about 11 million years ago.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In spite of this, these species can hybridize and produce viable offspring.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The cama is a camel-llama hybrid bred by scientists to see how closely related the parent species are.<ref name="bbc-came">Template:Cite news</ref> Scientists collected semen from a camel via an artificial vagina and inseminated a llama after stimulating ovulation with gonadotrophin injections.<ref name=fahmy02>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The cama is halfway in size between a camel and a llama and lacks a hump. It has ears intermediate between those of camels and llamas, longer legs than the llama, and partially cloven hooves.<ref name=campbell05>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=metrouk>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Like the mule, camas are sterile, despite both parents having the same number of chromosomes.<ref name="fahmy02"/>
EvolutionEdit
The earliest known camel, called Protylopus, lived in North America 40 to 50 million years ago (during the Eocene).<ref name=mukasa81 /> It was about the size of a rabbit and lived in the open woodlands of what is now South Dakota.<ref name=harington97>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=bernstein09>Template:Cite book</ref> By 35 million years ago, the Poebrotherium was the size of a goat and had many more traits similar to camels and llamas.<ref name=northdakota>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=scibuzz04>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The hoofed Stenomylus, which walked on the tips of its toes, also existed around this time, and the long-necked Aepycamelus evolved in the Miocene.<ref name=kindersley08>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> The split between the tribes Camelini, which contains modern camels and Lamini, modern llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, and guanacos, is estimated to have occurred over 16 million years ago.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
The ancestor of modern camels, Paracamelus, migrated into Eurasia from North America via Beringia during the late Miocene, between 7.5 and 6.5 million years ago.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="RybczynskiEtAl2013">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="singh-tomar">Template:Cite book</ref> During the Pleistocene, around 3 to 1 million years ago, the North American Camelidae spread to South America as part of the Great American Interchange via the newly formed Isthmus of Panama, where they gave rise to guanacos and related animals.<ref name=mukasa81 /><ref name=harington97/><ref name=bernstein09/> Populations of Paracamelus continued to exist in the North American Arctic into the Early Pleistocene.<ref name="RybczynskiEtAl2013"/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> This creature is estimated to have stood around Template:Convert tall. The Bactrian camel diverged from the dromedary about 1 million years ago, according to the fossil record.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
The last camel native to North America was Camelops hesternus, which vanished along with horses, short-faced bears, mammoths and mastodons, ground sloths, sabertooth cats, and many other megafauna as part of the Quaternary extinction event, coinciding with the migration of humans from Asia at the end of the Pleistocene, around 13–11,000 years ago.<ref name=worboys10>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=macphee99>Template:Cite book</ref>
An extinct giant camel species, Camelus knoblochi roamed Asia during the Late Pleistocene, before becoming extinct around 20,000 years ago.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref>
- Stenomylus.jpg
Stenomylus illustration
- NMNH-USNMV16601Stenomylus.tif
Stenomylus skeleton
- NMNH-USNMV15917Poebrotherium.jpg
Poebrotherium skeleton
- NMNH-USNM244271 2.jpg
Procamelus skull
- Camelops hesternus.jpg
Camelops hesternus, the last true camel native to North America
DomesticationEdit
Like horses, camels originated in North America and eventually spread across Beringia to Asia. They survived in the Old World, and eventually humans domesticated them and spread them globally. Along with many other megafauna in North America, the original wild camels were wiped out during the spread of the first indigenous peoples of the Americas from Asia into North America, 10 to 12,000 years ago; although fossils have never been associated with definitive evidence of hunting.<ref name=worboys10 /><ref name=macphee99 />
Most camels surviving today are domesticated.<ref name=fedewa00>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=walker09>Template:Cite news</ref> Although feral populations exist in Australia, India and Kazakhstan, wild camels survive only in the wild Bactrian camel population of the Gobi Desert.<ref name="nationalgeo-bactrian" />
HistoryEdit
When humans first domesticated camels is disputed. Dromedaries may have first been domesticated by humans in Somalia or South Arabia sometime during the 3rd millennium BC, the Bactrian in central Asia around 2,500 BC,<ref name="mukasa81">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book—Note that Bulliet has many more references to early use of camels</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> as at Shar-i Sokhta (also known as the Burnt City), Iran.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A study from 2016, which genotyped and used world-wide sequencing of modern and ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), suggested that they were initially domesticated in the southeast Arabian Peninsula,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> with the Bactrian type later being domesticated around Central Asia.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Martin Heide's 2010 work on the domestication of the camel tentatively concludes that humans had domesticated the Bactrian camel by at least the middle of the third millennium somewhere east of the Zagros Mountains, with the practice then moving into Mesopotamia. Heide suggests that mentions of camels "in the patriarchal narratives may refer, at least in some places, to the Bactrian camel", while noting that the camel is not mentioned in relationship to Canaan.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Heide and Joris Peters reasserted that conclusion in their 2021 study on the subject.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In 2009–2013, excavations in the Timna Valley by Lidar Sapir-Hen and Erez Ben-Yosef discovered what may be the earliest domestic camel bones yet found in Israel or even outside the Arabian Peninsula, dating to around 930 BC. This garnered considerable media coverage, as it is strong evidence that the stories of Abraham, Jacob, Esau, and Joseph were written after this time.<ref name=camels>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Sapir-Hen 2013 277–285">Template:Cite journal</ref>
The existence of camels in Mesopotamia—but not in the eastern Mediterranean lands—is not a new idea. The historian Richard Bulliet did not think that the occasional mention of camels in the Bible meant that the domestic camels were common in the Holy Land at that time.<ref name=Time>Template:Cite news</ref> The archaeologist William F. Albright, writing even earlier, saw camels in the Bible as an anachronism.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
The official report by Sapir-Hen and Ben-Joseph says:
The introduction of the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius) as a pack animal to the southern Levant ... substantially facilitated trade across the vast deserts of Arabia, promoting both economic and social change (e.g., Kohler 1984; Borowski 1998: 112–116; Jasmin 2005). This ... has generated extensive discussion regarding the date of the earliest domestic camel in the southern Levant (and beyond) (e.g., Albright 1949: 207; Epstein 1971: 558–584; Bulliet 1975; Zarins 1989; Köhler-Rollefson 1993; Uerpmann and Uerpmann 2002; Jasmin 2005; 2006; Heide 2010; Rosen and Saidel 2010; Grigson 2012). Most scholars today agree that the dromedary was exploited as a pack animal sometime in the early Iron Age (not before the 12th century [BC])
and concludes:
Current data from copper smelting sites of the Aravah Valley enable us to pinpoint the introduction of domestic camels to the southern Levant more precisely based on stratigraphic contexts associated with an extensive suite of radiocarbon dates. The data indicate that this event occurred not earlier than the last third of the 10th century [BC] and most probably during this time. The coincidence of this event with a major reorganization of the copper industry of the region—attributed to the results of the campaign of Pharaoh Shoshenq I—raises the possibility that the two were connected, and that camels were introduced as part of the efforts to improve efficiency by facilitating trade.<ref name="Sapir-Hen 2013 277–285"/>
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A camel serving as a draft animal in Pakistan (2009)
- A camel with its rider playing kettle drums..jpg
A camel in a ceremonial procession, its rider playing kettledrums, Mughal Empire (c. 1840)
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Joseph Sells Grain by Bartholomeus Breenbergh (1655), showing camel with rider at left
TextilesEdit
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Desert tribes and Mongolian nomads use camel hair for tents, yurts, clothing, bedding and accessories. Camels have outer guard hairs and soft inner down, and the fibers may also be sorted by color and age of the animal. The guard hairs can be felted for use as waterproof coats for the herdsmen, while the softer hair is used for premium goods.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The fiber can be spun for use in weaving or made into yarns for hand knitting or crochet. Pure camel hair is recorded as being used for western garments from the 17th century onwards, and from the 19th century a mixture of wool and camel hair was used.<ref name="Dictionary of Fashion History">Template:Cite book</ref>
Military usesEdit
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By at least 1200 BC the first camel saddles had appeared, and Bactrian camels could be ridden. The first saddle was positioned to the back of the camel, and control of the Bactrian camel was exercised by means of a stick. However, between 500 and 100 BC, Bactrian camels came into military use. New saddles, which were inflexible and bent, were put over the humps and divided the rider's weight over the animal. In the seventh century BC the military Arabian saddle evolved, which again improved the saddle design slightly.<ref>Template:Cite bookTemplate:Page needed</ref><ref name="Teller_2012">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Military forces have used camel cavalries in wars throughout Africa, the Middle East, and their use continues into the modern-day within the Border Security Force (BSF) of India. The first documented use of camel cavalries occurred in the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BC.<ref name=gabriel07>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=bhatia12>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=gann72>Template:Cite book</ref> Armies have also used camels as freight animals instead of horses and mules.<ref name=fleming09>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=mantz06>Template:Cite book</ref>
The East Roman Empire used auxiliary forces known as dromedarii, whom the Romans recruited in desert provinces.<ref name=southern07>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=nicolle91>Template:Cite book</ref> The camels were used mostly in combat because of their ability to scare off horses at close range (horses are afraid of the camels' scent),<ref name=sandiegozoo /> a quality famously employed by the Achaemenid Persians when fighting Lydia in the Battle of Thymbra (547 BC).<ref name=potts/><ref name=herodotus>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="historygroup-nz">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
19th and 20th centuriesEdit
The United States Army established the U.S. Camel Corps, stationed in California, in the 19th century.<ref name=sandiegozoo /> One may still see stables at the Benicia Arsenal in Benicia, California, where they nowadays serve as the Benicia Historical Museum.<ref name="military-museum">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Though the experimental use of camels was seen as a success (John B. Floyd, Secretary of War in 1858, recommended that funds be allocated towards obtaining a thousand more camels), the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 saw the end of the Camel Corps: Texas became part of the Confederacy, and most of the camels were left to wander away into the desert.<ref name=mantz06 />
France created a méhariste camel corps in 1912 as part of the Armée d'Afrique in the Sahara<ref name="musee-de-l">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in order to exercise greater control over the camel-riding Tuareg and Arab insurgents, as previous efforts to defeat them on foot had failed.<ref name=brucehall>Template:Cite book</ref> The Free French Camel Corps fought during World War II, and camel-mounted units remained in service until the end of French rule over Algeria in 1962.<ref name=guillaume12>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1916, the British created the Imperial Camel Corps. It was originally used to fight the Senussi, but was later used in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in World War I. The Imperial Camel Corps comprised infantrymen mounted on camels for movement across desert, though they dismounted at battle sites and fought on foot. After July 1918, the Corps began to become run down, receiving no new reinforcements, and was formally disbanded in 1919.<ref name="historygroup-nz-pages">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In World War I, the British Army also created the Egyptian Camel Transport Corps, which consisted of a group of Egyptian camel drivers and their camels. The Corps supported British war operations in Sinai, Palestine, and Syria by transporting supplies to the troops.<ref name=woodward06 >Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=murray20>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=mcgregor06>Template:Cite book</ref>
The Somaliland Camel Corps was created by colonial authorities in British Somaliland in 1912; it was disbanded in 1944.<ref name=fedresearchdiv04>Template:Cite book</ref>
Bactrian camels were used by Romanian forces during World War II in the Caucasian region.<ref name="wwii-color">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At the same period the Soviet units operating around Astrakhan in 1942 adopted local camels as draft animals due to shortage of trucks and horses, and kept them even after moving out of the area. Despite severe losses, some of these camels ended up as far west as to Berlin itself.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Bikaner Camel Corps of British India fought alongside the British Indian Army in World Wars I and II.<ref name=indianetzone>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref>
The Tropas Nómadas (Nomad Troops) were an auxiliary regiment of Sahrawi tribesmen serving in the colonial army in Spanish Sahara (today Western Sahara). Operational from the 1930s until the end of the Spanish presence in the territory in 1975, the Tropas Nómadas were equipped with small arms and led by Spanish officers. The unit guarded outposts and sometimes conducted patrols on camelback.<ref name=shelley07>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=hermandad>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
21st century competitionEdit
The annual King Abdulaziz Camel Festival is held in Saudi Arabia. In addition to camel racing and camel milk tasting, the festival holds a camel "beauty pageant" with prize money of $57m (£40m). In 2018, 12 camels were disqualified from the beauty contest after their owners were found to have injected them with botox.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In a similar incident in 2021, over 40 camels were disqualified.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Food usesEdit
Camel meat and milk are foods that are found in many cuisines, typically in Middle Eastern, North African and some Australian cuisines.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Burin2015"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Camels provide food in the form of meat and milk.<ref>Tariq, M., Rabia, R., Jamil, A., Sakhwat, A., Aadil, A., & Muhammad S., 2010. Minerals and Nutritional Composition of Camel (Camelus Dromedarius) Meat in Pakistan. Journal- Chemical Society of Pakistan, Vol 33(6).</ref>
DairyEdit
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Camel milk is a staple food of desert nomad tribes and is sometimes considered a meal itself; a nomad can live on only camel milk for almost a month.<ref name=sandiegozoo /><ref name=davidson06 /><ref name=bulliet75>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=fao12>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Camel milk can readily be made into yogurt, but can only be made into butter if it is soured first, churned, and a clarifying agent is then added.<ref name=sandiegozoo /> Until recently, camel milk could not be made into camel cheese because rennet was unable to coagulate the milk proteins to allow the collection of curds.<ref name="ramet-making">Template:Cite book</ref> Developing less wasteful uses of the milk, the FAO commissioned Professor J.P. Ramet of the École Nationale Supérieure d'Agronomie et des Industries Alimentaires, who was able to produce curdling by the addition of calcium phosphate and vegetable rennet in the 1990s.<ref name=fao06>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The cheese produced from this process has low levels of cholesterol and is easy to digest, even for the lactose intolerant.<ref name="ramet-processing">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=young>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Camel milk can also be made into ice cream.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
MeatEdit
Approximately 3.3 million camels and camelids are slaughtered each year for meat worldwide.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A camel carcass can provide a substantial amount of meat. The male dromedary carcass can weigh Template:Convert, while the carcass of a male Bactrian can weigh up to Template:Convert. The carcass of a female dromedary weighs less than the male, ranging between Template:Convert.<ref name=mukasa81 /> The brisket, ribs and loin are among the preferred parts, and the hump is considered a delicacy.<ref name="yagil-camelother">Template:Cite book</ref> The hump contains "white and sickly fat", which can be used to make the khli (preserved meat) of mutton, beef, or camel.<ref name=madame03>Template:Cite book</ref> On the other hand, camel milk and meat are rich in protein, vitamins, glycogen, and other nutrients making them essential in the diet of many people. From chemical composition to meat quality, the dromedary camel is the preferred breed for meat production. It does well even in arid areas due to its unusual physiological behaviors and characteristics, which include tolerance to extreme temperatures, radiation from the sun, water paucity, rugged landscape and low vegetation.<ref>Aleme, A., D., 2013. A Review of Camel Meat as a Precious Source of Nutrition in some part of Ethiopia. Agricultural Science, Engineering and Technology Research. Vol. 1, No. 4, December 2013, PP: 40–43. Available online at {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}.</ref> Camel meat is reported to taste like coarse beef, but older camels can prove to be very tough,<ref name=camello /><ref name=mukasa81 /> although camel meat becomes tenderer the more it is cooked.<ref name=rubenstein10>Template:Cite news</ref>
Camel is one of the animals that can be ritually slaughtered and divided into three portions (one for the home, one for extended family/social networks, and one for those who cannot afford to slaughter an animal themselves) for the qurban of Eid al-Adha.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Abu Dhabi Officers' Club serves a camel burger mixed with beef or lamb fat in order to improve the texture and taste.<ref name="arthur12">Template:Cite news</ref> In Karachi, Pakistan, some restaurants prepare nihari from camel meat.<ref name="jasra00">Template:Cite book</ref> Specialist camel butchers provide expert cuts, with the hump considered the most popular.<ref>Anyone for camel meat? One hump or two? Template:WebarchiveThe Guardian, Word of Mouth</ref>
Camel meat has been eaten for centuries. It has been recorded by ancient Greek writers as an available dish at banquets in ancient Persia, usually roasted whole.<ref name=sherwood12 /> The Roman emperor Heliogabalus enjoyed camel's heel.<ref name=davidson06>Template:Cite book</ref> Camel meat is mainly eaten in certain regions, including Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, and other arid regions where alternative forms of protein may be limited or where camel meat has had a long cultural history.<ref name=mukasa81 /><ref name=davidson06 /><ref name="yagil-camelother" /> Camel blood is also consumable, as is the case among pastoralists in northern Kenya, where camel blood is drunk with milk and acts as a key source of iron, vitamin D, salts and minerals.<ref name=mukasa81 /><ref name="yagil-camelother" /><ref name=cnn10>Template:Cite news</ref>
A 2005 report issued jointly by the Saudi Ministry of Health and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention details four cases of human bubonic plague resulting from the ingestion of raw camel liver.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Camel meat is also occasionally found in Australian cuisine: for example, a camel lasagna is available in Alice Springs.<ref name=sherwood12>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=cnn10 /> Australia has exported camel meat, primarily to the Middle East but also to Europe and the US, for many years.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The meat is very popular among East African Australians, such as Somalis, and other Australians have also been buying it. The feral nature of the animals means they produce a different type of meat to farmed camels in other parts of the world,<ref name="Burin2015">Template:Cite news</ref> and it is sought after because it is disease-free, and a unique genetic group. Demand is outstripping supply, and governments are being urged not to cull the camels, but redirect the cost of the cull into developing the market. Australia has seven camel dairies, which produce milk, cheese and skincare products in addition to meat.<ref name=landline>Template:Cite news</ref>
ReligionEdit
IslamEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Muslims consider camel meat halal (Template:Langx, 'allowed'). However, according to some Islamic schools of thought, a state of impurity is brought on by the consumption of it. Consequently, these schools hold that Muslims must perform wudhu (ablution) before the next time they pray after eating camel meat.<ref name="purification">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Also, some Islamic schools of thought consider it haram (Template:Langx, 'forbidden') for a Muslim to perform Salat in places where camels lie, as it is said to be a dwelling place of the Shaytan (Template:Langx, 'Devil').<ref name="purification"/> According to Abu Yusuf (d.798), the urine of camels may be used for medical treatment if necessary, but according to Abū Ḥanīfah, the drinking of camel urine is discouraged.<ref name="alden">Template:Cite book</ref>
Islamic texts contain several stories featuring camels. In the story of the people of Thamud, the prophet Salih miraculously brings forth a naqat (Template:Langx, 'milch-camel') out of a rock. After Muhammad migrated from Mecca to Medina (the Hijrah), he allowed his she-camel to roam there; the location where the camel stopped to rest determined the location where he would build his house in Medina.<ref>Campo, Juan Eduardo (2009). Encyclopedia of Islam. Infobase Publishing. p. 128.</ref>
JudaismEdit
According to Jewish tradition, camel meat and milk are not kosher.<ref name=heinemen>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Camels possess only one of the two kosher criteria; although they chew their cud, they do not have cloven hooves: "But these you shall not eat among those that bring up the cud and those that have a cloven hoof: the camel, because it brings up its cud, but does not have a [completely] cloven hoof; it is unclean for you."<ref> http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9912#v=41 Template:Webarchive </ref>
The Palestinian Muslim Makhamara clan in Yatta, who claim descent from Jews, reportedly avoid eating camel meat, a practice cited as evidence of their Jewish origins.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":42">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Cultural depictionsEdit
What may be the oldest carvings of camels were discovered in 2018 in Saudi Arabia. They were analysed by researchers from several scientific disciplines and, in 2021, were estimated to be 7,000 to 8,000 years old.<ref>Saudi Arabia camel carvings dated to prehistoric era Template:Webarchive, BBC, September 15, 2021</ref> The dating of rock art is made difficult by the lack of organic material in the carvings that may be tested, so the researchers attempting to date them tested animal bones found associated with the carvings, assessed erosion patterns, and analysed tool marks in order to determine a correct date for the creation of the sculptures. This Neolithic dating would make the carvings significantly older than Stonehenge (5,000 years old) and the Egyptian pyramids at Giza (4,500 years old) and it predates estimates for the domestication of camels.
- Shadda (detail), Karabagh region, southwest Caucasus.jpeg
Shadda (cover,detail), Karabagh region, southwest Caucasus, early 19th century
- Vessel in the Form of a Recumbent Camel with Jugs, 2015.65.15.jpg
Vessel in the form of a recumbent camel with jugs, 250 BC – 224 AD, Brooklyn Museum
- Brooklyn Museum - Maru Ragini (Dhola and Maru riding on a Camel).jpg
Maru Ragini (Dhola and Maru Riding on a Camel), c. 1750, Brooklyn Museum
- Brooklyn Museum - The Magi Journeying (Les rois mages en voyage) - James Tissot - overall.jpg
The Magi Journeying (Les rois mages en voyage)—James Tissot, c. 1886, Brooklyn Museum
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How the Camel Got His Hump (From Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories)
Distribution and numbersEdit
There are approximately 14 million camels alive Template:As of, with 90% being dromedaries.<ref name=dolby10 /> Dromedaries alive today are domesticated animals (mostly living in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, Maghreb, Middle East and South Asia). The Horn region alone has the largest concentration of camels in the world,<ref name="Bernstein">Template:Cite book</ref> where the dromedaries constitute an important part of local nomadic life. They provide nomadic people in Somalia<ref name=mukasa81 /> and Ethiopia with milk, food, and transportation.<ref name=fao12 /><ref name=abokor87>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=un03>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=farah04>Template:Cite journal Plain text version. Template:Webarchive</ref>
Over one million dromedary camels are estimated to be feral in Australia, descended from those introduced as a method of transport in the 19th and early 20th centuries.<ref name=NTgov>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This population is growing about 8% per year;<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> it was estimated at 700,000 in 2008.<ref name=cnn10 /><ref name=dolby10 /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Representatives of the Australian government have culled more than 100,000 of the animals in part because the camels use too much of the limited resources needed by sheep farmers.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
A small population of introduced camels, dromedaries and Bactrians, wandered through Southwestern United States after having been imported in the 19th century as part of the U.S. Camel Corps experiment. When the project ended, they were used as draft animals in mines and escaped or were released. Twenty-five U.S. camels were bought and exported to Canada during the Cariboo Gold Rush.<ref name=mantz06/>
The Bactrian camel is, Template:As of, reduced to an estimated 1.4 million animals, most of which are domesticated.<ref name=fedewa00/><ref name=dolby10>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=denverzoo>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Wild Bactrian camel is the only truly wild (as opposed to feral) camel in the world. It is a distinct species that is not ancestral to the domestic Bactrian camel. The wild camels are critically endangered and number approximately 950, inhabiting the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts in China and Mongolia.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
See alsoEdit
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- Afghan cameleers in Australia
- Australian feral camel
- Camel howdah
- Camel milk
- Camel racing
- Camel train (caravan)
- Camel urine
- Camel wrestling
- Camelops
- Camelus moreli
- Dromedary
- List of animals with humps
- Xerocole
ReferencesEdit
Notes Template:Reflist
Bibliography
- Camels and Camel Milk. Report Issued by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (1982)
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Further reading
External linksEdit
Template:Sister project Template:Sister project Template:Sister project
- International Society of Camelid Research and Development
- Six Green Reasons to Drink Camel's Milk
- Use of camels by South African police
- The Camel as a pet
- "Could Emirati camels hold the key to treating venomous snake bites?"
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