The message about the camel can be used in preparation for the lesson. A story about a camel for children can be supplemented with interesting facts.
Camel report
Camels are large animals adapted to live in the arid regions of the world. Inhabitants of the desert highly value them and call them "ships of the desert".
In nature, there are two types of camels: dromedar (one-humped) and Bactrian (two-humped). The hump protects the animal's back from overheating and is a reservoir for energy reserves. The hump of a camel does not contain water, but fat. For example, the hump of a bactrian camel contains up to 150 kg of fat.
How long does a camel live? The average life span of a camel is about 40-50 years.
Camel description
The camel has a strong, dense constitution, a long curved neck and a rather narrow, elongated skull. The ears of the animal are small and rounded, sometimes almost completely buried in thick fur.
The average height of a camel is 210-230 cm, and the weight of a camel reaches 300-700 kg. The body length is on average 250-350 cm. Males are always larger than females. The tail of a camel in relation to the body is rather short and is about 50-58 cm. At the end of the tail, a brush grows, formed by a bun of long hair.
The eyes of the animal are protected from the ingress of small particles of sand into them by long thick eyelashes arranged in two rows. The camel's nostrils also have a thick hairline that prevents dust and sand from getting inside. And during a strong sandstorm, a camel can completely close its nostrils.
Large calluses are located on the chest, wrists, elbows and knees of pets, allowing the camel to painlessly lower and lie on the hot ground. Camels have a thick and dense coat that prevents moisture from evaporating in heat and warms on cold nights. The camel's coat is slightly curly and can be light or dark brown in color.
All camels have good eyesight and a well-developed flair. They feel the source of water at a distance of 40-60 km, easily anticipate the approach of a thunderstorm and go where the showers will pass.
The camel runs amble, while the speed of the camel can reach 23.5 km / h. Some individuals of wild haptagai are capable of accelerating up to 65 km / h.
What does a camel eat?
Camels feed on desert plants: camel thorn, wormwood, sand acacia, saltwort, saxaul, young or dry grass, depending on the season. In the most difficult conditions, he may not eat for up to a month and drink salt water.
Camel breeding
At the age of five, the camel reaches sexual maturity. Camel pregnancy lasts 13-14 months. A newborn is born weighing up to 40 kg, sighted and already a couple of hours after birth, begins to walk. At 2 months old, the baby camel begins to eat vegetable food, but, despite this, it feeds on mother's milk for more than a year.
The meanings of camels to humans
Camels are now pets that are rarely found in the wild. Its domestication took place about 4,000 years ago. They give people milk, wool, leather and meat. The main advantage of camels is their ability to travel long distances in the desert. They can walk about 50 km per day, while carrying bales of up to 300 kg.
We hope that this short message about the camel helped you. And you can leave your report on the camel through the comment form.
Elena Alekhina
Lexical topic: pets. The educator's story about domesticated animals.
Program tasks:
1. To acquaint children with domesticated animals, to consider their features of appearance, to talk about the way of life, the benefits brought
2. To consolidate the ability to compose a descriptive story based on a graphic diagram
3. Cultivate an interest in domesticated animals
Vocabulary work:
revitalization: camel, hump, baby camel, camel, deer, fawn, elephant, female elephant, baby elephant, thorn.
enrichment: driver, caravan, tundra, short tail, load.
Speech therapy: the use of prepositions with homogeneous predicates.
Equipment: ball, paintings "Reindeer", "Elephant", "Camel".
Preliminary work: reading fairy tales, stories, poems, fables about a camel, an elephant, a deer.
Course of the lesson
Organizing time:
Didactic game:"Who's doing what?" with a ball
"Throw, catch, speak the answer"
Educator: What can a cat do?
Children: A cat can meow, scratch, bite, lap milk, arch its back, catch mice, run away from dogs ...
Educator: What can a cow do?
Children: A cow can moo, graze, give milk, butt, and chew gum.
Educator: What can a pig do?
Children: A pig can grunt, lie in the mud, scratch its back on a tree ...
Educator: What can a horse do?
Children: The horse knows how to laugh, transports loads, gallops, drives a carriage ...
The teacher brings a letter from the woman Lena. It says that she heard about some domesticated animals on the radio, and asks to tell about them. Will they be able to live in her village?
Educator: Do you know about domesticated animals?
Children: No.
Lesson goal message:
Educator: Today I will introduce you to late domesticated animals (a picture of a reindeer and a graphic diagram for compiling a descriptive story are exhibited).
Educator: This is a reindeer. Previously, he lived in the north, in the tundra. The deer is a large, beautiful animal, its body is covered with short, hard hair. Great horns adorn the large head. Each year they subside and the reindeer grows new ones. The deer's eyes are large brown, ears are erect, the body is strong, muscular. It has 4 slender legs with hooves for defense and protection of the young. The deer has a short tail. Once a year, a deer gives birth to a fawn. Deer are herbivores, feeding on moss and grass. The reindeer breeders feed them with vegetables and hay. They keep them in the barn, look after them, and help raise their young. For this, the deer help people: they transport goods on special sleighs - sleds, give meat, healthy milk, skins from which they sew warm clothes, insulate their homes.
Fizminutka
A poem with movement.
The deer has a big house - hands over head house
He looks out his window - looking out the window
The bunny is running by - show a hare
Knocks on the door to him - knocking
Knock knock knock open the door
There is an evil hunter in the forest - show behind the back
Bunny, run in bunny - hand movements towards you
Give me your paw! give each other hands
The teacher exhibits the "Elephant" paintings. "Camel".
Educator: The elephant is also a late domesticated animal. His homeland - India and Africa - hot countries. The elephant is a very large, kind and intelligent animal. Describe it. Children describe the elephant based on the diagram, the teacher complements their answers.
Children: He has a huge head, large ears, a long trunk, 4 thick legs, a small tail. With the help of the trunk, the elephant gets food, drinks and carries weights
Educator: People use its power, teach them to carry logs with their trunk when building houses, fences, and also use an elephant as a means of transportation. The elephant is a herbivore, he loves the leaves of young trees and bushes, fruits and vegetables. An elephant gives birth to a baby elephant.
Educator: Now try to tell about the camel yourself.
Children: The camel is a large animal. He lives in the desert, it's hot and dry. He has a large head, large eyes, long eyelashes, they protect during sandstorms, ears are erect. The camel has a long, curving neck, a powerful body, rounded at the sides, and humps on the back. They store reserves of water and fat, they will be needed by a camel in dry weather, when there is no water and food, humps will feed him and will not let him die in the desert.
Educator: The camel has 4 strong legs, calluses on the knees so that the camel can rest lying on the hot sand under the scorching sun. The camel has a short tail, the body is covered with thick, short, brown wool, from which warm clothes are knitted and blankets are sewn. the animal feeds on the scarce vegetation of the desert, its favorite delicacy is thorns, the camel chews them like a cow chewing gum. A camel gives birth to a baby camel. Camel milk is very healthy. People have long used the strength and endurance of camels, because they can not drink or eat for several days. The camels have taught the camels to follow each other in a caravan. They are loaded with heavy luggage and transported where there are no roads and cars.
Educator: Well done, you have got wonderful stories about late domesticated animals, tell me why they are called that?
Children: Because they used to be wild, and then the man tamed them.
Educator: That's right, these animals were domesticated by people the very last, after a cat, a goat, a cow, a sheep. Therefore they are called "late" "domesticated".
Educator: Children, we must write a letter to Baba Lena and tell her about these amazing animals. Will they be able to live in her village?
Children: No. The deer will be hot, he is used to living in the north, and the elephant and camel will freeze in winter.
Educator: Let us draw these animals for her, and she will understand everything herself.
Interesting facts about camels
Camels are a ruminant mammal that lives in the desert. By storing fat in its single or double humps, this animal can travel great distances without eating or drinking.
Camels can live up to about fifty years.
Some interesting facts about camels. The camel is a herbivore that lives mainly in Asia and Africa.
Legs are uniquely suited for walking on the sand, which prevents them from sinking; each leg has two thumbs and a web between them to expand the area.
The camel can grow to about 7 feet in height and weigh up to 1,500 pounds.
Camels have thick eyelashes that can be the envy of many women. In fact, camels have two rows of long, thick eyelashes that protect their eyes from sandstorms.
Camel hair can range in color from beige to dark brown. Camels shed their heavy hair every year.
Camels were domesticated by humans about 5,000 years ago.
Contrary to popular belief, camels do not store water in their humps. Water is stored in their blood, which allows them to walk for days without water or food.
Camels' humps actually contain a reservoir of adipose tissue.
Camels are often found alone, but these animals can also be seen in groups of about thirty camels.
Camels have leathery pads on their feet that form a common area to prevent them from sinking into the sand. They have two toes on each foot.
The camel's gestation period is 11 months. They usually give birth to one calf at a time.
Camels can carry an average of 1,000 pounds over long distances.
Camels have stomachs with three sections. They eat grass, dates, wheat, oats, leaves and plants. They eat food without chewing, regurgitate, and chew later.
The female camel is called a cow. The male is called a bull. The baby of a camel, as mentioned above, is called a calf.
Camels can close their nostrils and lips tightly in order to keep sand during desert storms.
Camels have small ears but excellent hearing.
Since ancient times, a camel, an unpretentious, hardy inhabitant of deserts and semi-deserts, has been a companion of a southerner nomad. Until now, these animals play a huge role in the life of many peoples. They are used as horse, pack and horse-drawn transport; camels provide people with valuable wool, milk and meat. Meanwhile, this is one of the most amazing and unusual creatures on our planet.
Camel species
Camels belong to the genus of herbivorous mammals of the artiodactyl order. Scientists attribute them to a separate suborder of calluses, in which camels and their distant relatives, vicuñas and llamas, living on the South American continent, are the only representatives.
They are large, taller than human, animals with a long flexible neck, thin legs and a soft fat hump on the back. Only two species have survived to this day:
- One-humped camel, or dromedary;
- And the bactrian camel - Bactrian, named after the ancient state of Central Asia, Bactria, where the unpretentious "ships of the desert" were first tamed by man.
The camel is a unique example of the adaptation of living organisms to environmental conditions. These hardy, surprisingly unpretentious animals feel great in the arid, sharply continental climate of deserts and semi-deserts, calmly enduring both huge temperature drops and prolonged dehydration.
They are distinguished by a dense, elongated body with a small elongated head. The structure of the flexible neck, curved with the letter "U", is such that the desert dweller can easily pick off leaves and soft branches from sufficiently tall trees or pick up food from the ground without bending his long legs. Their ears are small, rounded, and in some breeds they may be practically invisible due to their long thick coat. The tail with a small stiff tassel, in comparison with the body, is rather short, and does not exceed 50 - 58 cm in length.
The whole body of the camel is covered with thick curly hair, which perfectly protects both from the scorching rays and from low winter temperatures. The color of the pile can be different: from light sand to dark brown. Sometimes even black animals are found.
The hump, located on the back of the camel, serves as an excellent protection from the burning southern sun and is a kind of storage of nutrients. Its top is covered with longer and stiffer hairs than the rest of the body, and often has a color different from the main color. The shape also plays an important role: for example, in an emaciated animal, the hump sags and resembles an empty wineskin. But it quickly rises and acquires density, as soon as the camel eat and get enough water.
Nature especially took care of the camel's head. Large, widely spaced for a better view, the eyes have a third eyelid that protects from dust and sand, and are surrounded by long thick eyelashes. The deep browbones also provide additional wind protection. At the same time, the sight of humpback mammals is excellent: they are able to notice a person from a kilometer, and a large moving object, for example, a car, can be seen even from 4 to 5 kilometers.
Camels are famous for their excellent scent. So, they feel the sources of water in the desert 50-60 km away. This is largely due to the structure of the nose. Narrow nostrils are covered with a special fold, due to which moisture, which inevitably evaporates during breathing, flows into the mouth; this prevents the animals from becoming dehydrated, but does not dull the sense of smell.
The nasal openings of a camel have such a structure that they are able to close almost completely, protecting the airways from both sand and loss of excess fluid. It is thanks to this feature that camels are among the few mammals capable of surviving a dust storm without damage, which in the desert has a truly monstrous destructive power.
The camel's jaw deserves a special mention. There are 38 teeth in the oral cavity, including 4 rather sharp canines - 2 on top and 2 on the bottom. In addition to them, the lower jaw has 10 molars and the same number of incisors, and the upper jaw has 12 molars and 2 incisors. A camel can easily bite a hard thorn or a dry branch, and its bite is much more painful than a horse's. The fleshy lips of these animals - the flat bottom and the forked top - are designed to pluck tough food and have rough, tough skin.
It is known that camels have a pungent, rather unpleasant odor. Contrary to popular times, it is not sweat that emits this "aroma". Camels practically do not sweat at all (in an arid climate, excess moisture loss would be a waste). But on the back of the head of these animals there are glands with a sharp-smelling secret, with which the males mark their territory, rubbing their head and neck on the trees.
Outwardly, both a two-humped and one-humped camel may seem disproportionate and even fragile due to thin legs, this is only an appearance. An adult can easily withstand many hours of crossings in the desert and is capable of carrying a load equal to half its weight. Forked hooves with a large horn claw allow free movement on rocky and sandy surfaces, and in winter they serve as an excellent aid in obtaining food: with the help of them, camels dig edible branches and thorns from under the snow.
These animals are distinguished from other cloven-hoofed animals by a characteristic feature: dense skin growths - calluses - in those places where the camel comes into contact with the soil while lying down. Thanks to them, animals are able to lie without harm to themselves even on the hot midday sand or rocky ground (and in some regions of Asia and Africa, the temperature of the earth in summer reaches 70⁰ Celsius). Similar formations are located on the chest, elbows, knees and wrists of a camel. The exception is wild, not domesticated individuals: they completely lack elbow, pectoral and knee calluses.
Thus, these mammals have rightfully earned their name "the ship of the desert". True, all their amazing features have a downside: the list of places where camels live is not so long. In a humid climate, neither a single-humped nor a two-humped camel can exist, becoming ill and dying very quickly.
The question of where the camels live is rather complicated. On the one hand, due to their endurance, these animals are able to live in areas characterized by an arid, sharply continental climate. They are found in deserts and semi-deserts, at altitudes up to 3300 km above sea level. On the other hand, now the number of wild camels is rapidly decreasing, and their area of distribution is becoming smaller. The reason for this was human activity: almost all open sources of water in the desert have long been occupied by people, and haptagai, due to natural caution, are extremely reluctant to approach a person. The wild bactrian camel has been protected as an endangered species included in the Red Data Book for several decades. Now there are only a few regions where you can still find Bactrians in their natural, not domesticated, form:
- southeast of Mongolia, the trans-Altai part of the Gobi Desert;
- western, arid regions of China, primarily in the vicinity of the long-dry lake Lop Nor, famous for its salt marshes.
In general, the habitats of wild camels are 4 not too large, isolated areas of deserts and semi-deserts.
As for dromedaries, it is impossible to meet them in the wild. The wild one-humped camel became extinct at the turn of the New Era and today it is bred exclusively in captivity.
The list of places where human-tamed camels live is much wider. They are used as a means of transportation and draft power in almost all areas close to the desert in terms of natural conditions.
So, the one-humped camel is found today:
- in the north of the African continent, in all countries up to the equator (in Somalia, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia);
- on the Arabian Peninsula;
- in the countries of Central Asia - Mongolia, Kalmykia, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, in the UAE and Yemen and in other countries up to the northern provinces of India.
- in the desert regions of the Balkan Peninsula;
- in Australia, where dromedaries were brought by settlers in the 19th century instead of horses that could not withstand critical temperatures and extremely low humidity;
- and even in the Canary Islands.
Bactrians can also boast of a similar range. The bactrian camel is one of the most common representatives of livestock throughout Asia Minor and in northern China, in Manchuria.
According to rough estimates, the population of dromedaries in the world now reaches 19 ml; of these, almost 15 million live in North Africa alone.
Camels are rightfully revered by many peoples almost like sacred animals. After all, not only trade depends on them, but in general the life of people in many regions of our planet.
Etymology of the name
Linguists have been arguing about the origin of the name of this unpretentious representative of the desert fauna for more than a century, but not a single theory has yet been recognized as the only true one. The difficulty lies not only in the fact that in different countries the “ship of the desert” is called differently, but also in the too large abyss separating modernity and the ancient world. Over the past 4,000 years since the domestication of the camel, the language of different countries has undergone tremendous changes, the borrowed words have become "indigenous" and then become obsolete. Nevertheless, some assumptions can be made.
The camel has been known to people living in arid desert regions for a long time. In the life of a Bedouin, he played the same role as a horse in the life of a steppe nomad. A comrade in arms, transport, a carrier of weights ... And also - nutritious milk, wool for clothes, shelter from a sandstorm, meat in a hungry year - all this is a camel. It is not surprising that each nation gave its own name to its faithful companions. So, in the Kalmyk steppes the stately humpbacked giant is still called "burgud", in the north of Africa - "mehari", and in Farsi this animal is denoted by the word "ushtur".
The Latin name for these animals sounds like "Camelus", and, according to the most widespread theory, goes back to the Arabic name "جَمَل" - "gamal" in our usual transcription. All Western European versions of the camel's name originate from the Latin term: in English-speaking countries it is called “camel”, in Germany - “Kamel”, the heirs of the Roman Empire, Italians use the word cammello, and the Spanish version sounds almost the same - “camello”. The French went a little further - their "ship of the desert" is called "chameau".
Much more controversy is raging around the Russian name of this animal. There are three versions of the origin of the word "camel":
- According to the first, the term is a highly distorted borrowing from the Latin language. The Romans, who had colonies in Africa and Asia, knew many large mounts unfamiliar to Europeans. One of them - elephantus, meaning elephant, got into the Gothic language and eventually adapted to ulbandus. The Slavs, in contrast to the Goths, who settled in the lands from present-day Germany to the Balkan Peninsula, lived much further north, and they mistakenly used this term to define a large two-humped transport of their southern neighbors.
- The second version can be considered an addition to the first, since it can explain how the western "ulbandus" could be transformed into a Russian "camel". The Old Slavic transcription of this word did not have the letter "r" and sounded like "velbǫd". This form of the name is used in many Old Russian texts, for example, in "The Lay of Igor's Host." The two semantic roots of "wellblood" are translated into modern ones as "great, great" and "walk, wander, wander." This is a completely viable theory - the camel is really considered one of the hardiest mounts, capable of walking up to 40 km or more per day.
- According to some linguists, the word “camel” came to Russia from Kalmykia, where the word “burgud” is still used.
What do camels eat and what do they eat?
Everyone knows that camels are one of the most unpretentious animals in terms of food. They are able to digest even those foods that other mammals do not touch and can live without food for a long time. The list of what camels eat is quite long. It includes:
- grass, both fresh and burnt out in the sun;
- leaves of trees, especially poplars (in the cold season, this is the basis of the camel's diet);
- barnyard;
- camel thorn (so named because other animals are unable to digest its tough fiber);
- ephedra
- sand acacia;
- sagebrush;
- parifolia;
- steppe bow;
- saxaul branches;
- and some other types of shrubs.
The diet largely depends on where the camels live. So, at home, these mammals happily eat grain, hay, silage, fruits and vegetables, as well as any other plant foods. The key to this unpretentiousness lies in the structure of the camel's digestive organs. Its stomach has three chambers and is capable of digesting even the roughest and seemingly lack of nutrients. At the same time, animals swallow food without chewing, and after a few hours they regurgitate the semi-digested mixture and chew it slowly.
Camel spit, contrary to popular belief, does not consist of saliva, but of partially digested gum.
The one-humped camel is considered more picky in terms of nutrition than the two-humped camel. So, during the famine period, Bactrians are quite capable of eating animal skins and even bones, while dromedaries are forced to make do with exclusively plant food.
It has been noticed that a strict "diet" affects these amazing creatures much better than an abundant diet. In lean years, the survival rate of the population in winter is much higher than in periods when there was enough food in the summer. All camels endure hunger and thirst without harm to themselves. An adult animal can go without food for up to 30 days, accumulating nutrients in its humps and subsequently subsisting on them.
Equally phenomenal is the ability of these mammals to withstand thirst. In the absence of any source of moisture, a one humped camel can live for 10 days if it does not expend energy on running or carrying weights. During the period of activity, this period is reduced to 5 days. In this regard, the bactrian camel is less hardy: for it, the period of abstinence in hot weather is limited to 3, maximum 5 days.
In many ways, these unique qualities are associated with the structural features of the blood. In camels, unlike other mammals, erythrocytes are oval in shape, due to which they better retain moisture. "Ships of the desert" can withstand dehydration up to a quarter of their own weight (while for other mammals, a loss of 15% of fluid is already fatal). These amazing creatures can get moisture even from food. So, succulent grass supplies the camels with enough liquid, and on fresh pastures they can do without water for up to 10 days.
However, there are other reasons for this phenomenal endurance:
- Both Bactrians and dromedaries lead an inactive lifestyle, thereby very slowly spending energy.
- Camels practically do not lose moisture during their vital activity. The vapor exhaled from the nostrils is deposited and drains into the oral cavity. The intestines recycle waste from the body, almost completely absorbing liquid (this is the reason that camel feces are often used by desert inhabitants as fuel for a fire). Camels begin to sweat only if the body temperature rises above 40⁰ and there is a real threat of death from overheating, and this happens extremely rarely.
- The camel's body is designed in such a way that in a season rich in food and water, the necessary substances accumulate in its body, gradually being expended until the time when the animal cannot replenish its reserves.
Domestic camels
For many regions, these animals are not only the optimal means of transportation, but also the only livestock that can easily withstand difficult climatic conditions.
Camel wool plays a huge role in the economy. It is valued much higher than goat or sheep, because due to the large mass fraction of fluff (about 85%) it perfectly warms in cold weather. From a dromedary, you can get from 2 to 4 kg of wool per year; but the average annual sheared off Bactrian reaches 10 kg.
An impressive share of the diet of many peoples living in desert regions is taken by products made from camel milk - cheese, butter, fermented milk drinks, such as the Turkmen chal or Kazakh shubat. A camel gives from 2 to 5 liters of milk per day; however, this amount largely depends on the breed of the animal. Thus, the annual milk yield from Bactrian rarely exceeds 750 - 800 liters. But for dromedaries, 2 tons of milk per year is the norm, not to mention arvans, from which you can get 4 or more tons per year.
The fat content of camel milk is higher than that of cow milk, and reaches 5.5% in Bactrians. In dromedaries, this figure is slightly lower - 4.5%. It is rich in many trace elements, including iron, calcium, magnesium, and the content of vitamin C in it is even higher than in cow or goat milk. Due to its low content of goseic acid, it is well absorbed, has a foamy appearance and has a sweetish taste.
In ancient times, camels were often used as war animals. In battle, the four-legged warrior carried two riders: the driver in front, and the archer in the back. And in the case of hand-to-hand combat, the camel itself turned into a rather dangerous weapon, because it was able not only to kick, but also to use its teeth. And on the main square of the small town of Aktyubinsk, Astrakhan region, a monument to two camels named Mishka and Mashka is erected: it was they who were carrying the gun mount, which was one of the first to begin shelling the Reichstag in May 1945.
Camels have long been used as riding and horse-drawn animals. They are able to freely carry a load of half their own weight. Outwardly, these imperturbable "ships of the desert" give the impression of slow and phlegmatic animals. However, this is due not so much to their nature as to the need to retain moisture, which is consumed much faster during activity. A camel is indeed a very calm animal, and it is not so easy to make it run, wasting precious energy. But they can walk at a measured pace, without getting tired, for hours, covering a distance of up to 50 km per day, and with constant prodding up to 100 km.
In some countries, cheml - the size of a bale a camel can carry is an official measure of weight. It is equal to 250 kg.
In many Arab countries, there is a national sport - camel racing. For example, in the UAE, such competitions are held every week, from April to October, when the rainy season continues. On the roads here you can find a warning sign usual for local residents: “Caution! Camels! "
Wild and domesticated camels: differences
The ancient ancestors of modern camels were widespread over a large part of Eurasia, North America and the Arabian Peninsula. It was there, according to the assumptions of scientists, that these hardy creatures were first tamed by man in about the 2nd millennium BC.
To this day, only the two-humped camel has survived in its wild, original form; the dromedary is found in the natural environment exclusively as a domestic, secondarily feral animal. Actually, the very existence of wild camels was officially confirmed only at the beginning of the 20th century, during the Asian expedition led by Przewalski. It was he who discovered the existence of wild Bactrians, who received the name "haptagai".
The haptagai camel has several notable differences from its domesticated ancestor:
- their hooves are narrower than that of a domestic camel;
- the physique of wild camels is lean and dry, with a more elongated muzzle and short ears, and the height and weight are slightly less than that of a domesticated animal;
- a not so roomy hump makes wild camels more vulnerable during a drought or a famine year;
- but the easiest way to distinguish a haptagai is by their clean, without the slightest trace of calluses, legs and chest.
Now wild camels are on the verge of extinction: their total number in the world barely exceeds 3,000 individuals.
Haptagai camel lifestyle
Camels in the wild lead a wandering lifestyle, constantly migrating from one water source to another. Usually they roam in small families, from 5 to 10 - 15 individuals. They include one adult male and several females with cubs. Adult males usually roam one by one, occasionally nipping to herds and leaving during the rut. Large herds can be found only at the watering hole, where the number of camels can reach several tens of thousands of heads.
Like domestic camels, haptagai are diurnal animals. They are not active at night, but in the daytime they are in constant motion.
Despite constant migrations, the places where camels live are clearly demarcated. These animals do not leave their natural habitat, keeping close to springs and oases. As a rule, in summer they roam in the northern regions, and with the onset of cold weather they go further to the south. At this time, they can be found in tree-rich oases, in the foothills, where it is easy to find protection from the wind, and also in shallow ravines.
The species of camels that have survived to this day are not very diverse and include only two items: the two-humped Bactrian and the dromedary with one hump.
The one-humped variety of the "desert ship", unlike its larger relative, is considered not so much a horse-drawn animal as a running animal. The very name "dromedary" or "Camelus dromedarius", comes from ancient Greek as "one who runs", "running". It has a lower stature (no more than 190 cm, rarely 210 cm) and is inferior to its two-humped relative in weight, due to which it is able to develop a significantly higher speed.
But in terms of cold resistance, the one-humped camel is more vulnerable. It does not tolerate cold in the desert because of the not too thick wool, which protects well from the heat, but does not warm well.
Another distinctive feature of dromedaries is a short shaggy mane that starts from the back of the head and passes into a beard that ends in the middle of the neck. The same "decorations" are on the back, in the area of the shoulder blades. The wool of these animals, as a rule, has a sandy shade of varying saturation, although occasionally there are brown, gray-red and even extremely rare, white individuals.
The one-humped camel has other names as well. So, in many countries it is called "Arabian" - by the name of the area where these animals were first tamed. It was from the Arabian Peninsula that unhurried giants with one hump began their triumphant march around the world.
The second name of this species comes from the ancient state of Bactria, located in Central Asia (the first information about these animals is found in the documents of that particular region). Bactrians are much more massive than dromedaries, their height reaches 230 cm, and the saddle between the humps is about 170 cm from the ground. The distance between the bases of the humps ranges from 20 to 40 cm.
The bactrian camel has a long neck, due to the strong bend of which the head and shoulders of the animal are located at the same height (which is not typical for the one-humped representative of these mammals).
The wool of Bactrians is very thick, dense, allowing them to easily endure extreme cold. In winter, its length reaches 7 cm on the body and 25 - on the tops of humps. But with the onset of warmth, the two-humped giants begin to shed, which is why in the spring they look rather untidy - until the period when the hairline will grow back again.
Camel breeds
Despite the fact that currently there are only two types of these unpretentious animals, several varieties are bred in the world, which have many differences from each other. So, only on the territory of our country there are 4 breeds of camels:
- Mongolian;
- Kazakh;
- Kalmyk (the largest in the world - it is bred mainly for the sake of wool and meat);
- and the Turkmen arvana, famous for its wool.
Of these, only the long-haired arvana is one-humped. But in the Arab countries, the number of breeds is approaching 20:
- Omani;
- Sudanese;
- majayim;
- azael;
- mania, famous for its excellent running qualities;
- al-hajin (also used in horse races);
- other.
Despite the large number of names, the differences between the Arabian camel breeds are insignificant. So, both the Sudanese and Omani varieties, and manias are used in races and are not inferior to each other.
Camel hybrids
The endurance and benefits of camels in the economy are so great that attempts to cross and breed new species do not stop to this day. Unlike many other animals, hybrid camel species are quite viable.
The "mestizos" include:
- "Nar" is a large, weighing up to 1 ton, a hybrid of a one-humped Arvan and a two-humped Kazakh camel. A distinctive feature of this breed is one large, as if consisting of two parts, hump. The bunks are bred, first of all, because of their milking qualities - the average milk yield from one individual is 2,000 liters per year.
- "Kama". This hybrid of a dromedary camel and a llama is distinguished by its low height, on average from 125 to 140 cm, and low weight (it does not exceed 70 kg). This kid does not have a standard hump, but it has an excellent carrying capacity and is often used as pack animals in hard-to-reach places.
- "Iner", or "Iner". In order to get this one-humped giant with magnificent wool, a female of the Turkmen breed of a camel and an Arvan male are crossed.
- "Jarbai" is a rather rare and almost non-viable subspecies, born from the mating of two hybrids.
- Kurt. Not a very popular one-humped hybrid of a female iner and a male camel of the Turkmen breed. Despite the decent milk yield from one individual, they are rarely bred due to the low fat content of milk and unsatisfactory wool performance.
- Kaspak. But this hybrid of a camel-Bactrian and a female Nara (often called Nar-May, adding a feminine suffix to the breed) is very popular. It is grown mainly because of its high milk yield and impressive meat mass.
- "Kez-nar". A hybrid of a Turkmen camel and a Kaspak breed, which is considered one of the largest in terms of both size and milk yield.
Camel breeding
Reproduction in camels follows the same pattern as in many artiodactyls. The rutting period in these animals is quite dangerous, both for the camels themselves and for people. Sexually mature males become aggressive, and in the fight for the female, they attack the opponent without hesitation. Fierce battles often end with the death or injury of the losing side: during the battle, animals use not only hooves, but also teeth, trying to knock the enemy to the ground and trample. Males participate in the rut, starting from the age of 5 (in females, sexual maturity occurs much earlier - already at 3 years old.)
Mating of camels occurs in winter, when the rainy season begins in the desert and there is enough water and food for the animals. Moreover, in dromedaries, rut begins a little earlier than in Bactrians. After a gestation period, which lasts 13 months for one-humped and 14 for two-humped individuals, one, less often two cubs are born, which after a few hours completely stand up and are able to run after their mother in the desert.
The sizes of camels vary. A newborn bactrian camel weighs from 35 to 46 kg, with a growth of only 90 cm. But a small dromedary, with almost the same height, reaches a weight of almost 100 kg. Both one-humped and two-humped camels feed their young from 6 to 18 months. And parents take care of their offspring until the full maturation of the cub.
Camel speed
Camels are renowned for being great runners. The average speed of a camel is even higher than that of a horse - from 15 to 23 km / h. There are cases when a dromedary (which in some literary sources is poetically called a "desert runner"), developed a speed of up to 65 km / h.
Unlike a high-speed dromedary, a two-humped camel is not capable of a quick march due to its more impressive mass. It is also capable of moving at a speed of 50 - 65 km / h, but exhales much faster than a one-humped relative. Therefore, on the Arabian Peninsula, in Central Asia and Africa, it was the Bactrians that were more often used as horse-drawn transport. So, on the coat of arms of the Chelyabinsk region, where the trade route to Iran and China once passed, it is the two-humped giant loaded with bales that is depicted.
How much does a camel weigh?
These mammals are rather tall: 190 - 230 cm at the withers, and the males are always slightly larger than the females. Body length can vary from 230 to 340 cm in dromedaries, and from 240 to 360 cm in their two-humped counterparts. A controversial question is how much the camel weighs. So, on average, the weight of an adult varies from 300 to 800 kg in different breeds. However, there are individual giants, whose mass reaches 1 ton. The largest representative of this family is the bactrian camel, and the smallest is the cama, a hybrid of a dromedary and a South American llama. The maximum weight of this crumb does not exceed 70 kg.
There is still a debate about how long camels live. The lifespan of domesticated animals ranges from 20 to 40 years. However, among the haptagai - wild camels - there are individuals reaching the age of 50 years with an average life expectancy of about 4 decades.
What's in a camel's hump?
There is a widespread belief that the hump of a camel is a kind of wineskin, which is filled with water and from where the animal subsequently receives the necessary liquid. Actually this is not true. "Ships of the Desert" are really capable of saving liquid for future use, but in the build-up on the back, it is the least of all that accumulates in its pure form.
The answer to the question of what a camel has a hump is more prosaic and, at the same time, surprising. This physiological reservoir is filled with fat, which performs two functions at once: it protects the body from overheating and accumulates nutrients, due to which the animal can exist for a long time without any food sources. An adult is capable of losing up to 40% of its weight without harm to health and quickly recover as soon as it finds food.
In the case of prolonged thirst or hunger, the fat again decomposes into components, releasing the energy and water necessary for life.
By itself, the process of breaking down fats has long been known to nutritionists and underlies most methods of getting rid of excess weight. However, the adaptability of camels to environmental conditions amazed even scientists. Recent experiments have shown that 100 g of fat when broken down gives an average of about 107 g of liquid.
Camels are capable of storing liquid for future use not only in the hump, but also in special cavities of the stomach. Having reached the watering hole, the desert walker is able to drink more than 100 liters of water at a time. So, there is a documentary fact: a camel, deprived, during the summer drought, of food and drink for 8 days, lost 100 kg of weight. When he got to the watering hole, he did not tear himself away from the water for 9 minutes, having drunk 103 liters during this time. On average, a one-humped camel can drink from 60 to 135 liters at a time, and a two-humped camel even more.
The hump performs another important function: it regulates heat transfer. This is due to the climatic conditions of the places where camels live. In the desert, the difference between night and day temperatures can reach 50 degrees. A fat pad saves its owner both from the scorching heat (the heat in the Gobi Desert or the Sahara in summer can reach 40 - 45⁰), and from night frosts, often dropping to -10⁰ even in summer. The sun's rays are so hot in summer that an egg left in the sand is hard-boiled in half an hour or an hour, and most mammals risk getting heatstroke and, in the most serious case, dying from overheating. What a one-humped camel that a two-humped camel is spared from such a risk. The thickness of the fat layer is so great that the body temperature of the animal remains within normal limits. And with the onset of night, the hump begins to play the role of a heater, cooling down during the dark to an acceptable 35 - 40⁰ and again providing coolness during the day.
There is an opinion that this animal stores water in its humps and lives comfortably where other animals cannot. However, this is not entirely true, and humps are not the only cunning device that camels have. These strange desert dwellers cannot but arouse interest - regardless of whether they seem repulsive to you, or you are in solidarity with the Arabs: the Latin name of the species comes from the word "gamal" - "beauty". Today we get acquainted with the intricacies of survival skills, count the actual number of humps and at the same time trace the history of these amazing animals - from the ancient Egyptian wars to the first cloned camel.How do camels cope with drought?
First of all, it is necessary to clarify what is in the humps of camels: this, of course, is not water, but adipose tissue, which performs the function of an energy "pantry". It is thanks to these reserves that animals can go without food for almost a month - then the humps decrease in size and hang on their side. In addition, these humps help camels regulate heat exchange, since the temperature of the rest of the body is much higher: from 34 degrees Celsius at night to 41 degrees during the day, and they begin to sweat only after exceeding this mark. At night, when it gets very cold in the desert, humps serve as "heaters" for their owners.
It is known that camels can drink up to 100 liters of water at a time, and without special attention to its quality - any moisture is valuable in the desert, even stagnant. So where does it go if not into the humps? “These supplies are stored in the stomachs of camels, and are removed from there as needed, just like gasoline from a car tank. Desert inhabitants extract some of the water from the thorns that they eat.
The camel loses up to 40% of its body weight until it replenishes its stores. What happens when the water supply in the stomach dries up? - A new "trump card" of wise animals begins to act: their erythrocytes (and only them) have an oval shape, and when during dehydration the blood begins to thicken, they still do not lose the ability to flow. So, the limit for camels is 25% of fluid loss in the body, while for other mammals and humans this mark does not exceed 15% - our round blood cells collide with each other, forming blood clots.
But this is not all the tricks of the camels! For example, their unique nostrils can not only close completely when necessary, like their eyes - with long thick eyelashes (during sandstorms), but also thanks to their shape retain water vapor and return condensate to the body! The thick fur of nomadic animals reflects sunlight well - this protects the body from the scorching sun. Camels have calloused formations on their feet that allow them to lie on the hot sand. Well, as a final touch, we note: the camel's organism saves water so strictly that the Bedouins use their completely dry excrement as fuel.
Camel lifestyle
What else is interesting about these animals? - Oddly enough, despite living in dry zones, camels swim well if necessary - even if they have not seen a single body of water in their life.
Being ruminants like cows and goats, camels are much less picky about treats - thorny thorns are just in their teeth, because their lips are specially adapted to such a diet. When camels graze, they do not damage either the lips or the mouth.
No one wants to quarrel with camels: they can safely kick each of their feet in all four directions. And they can also "spit" a dirty, foul-smelling substance - if provoked. But, as in the case of humps, there is an inaccuracy here: this is not saliva at all, but liquid from the stomach.
Camels live in harems, like many other mammals. And for the opportunity to lead a group of females in the desert, real battles take place. Male camels are very capricious, and when it comes to "wives" and the opportunity to acquire their own offspring, they can be very aggressive and vindictive.
Varieties of camels
When connoisseurs with a clever look say "dromedar", "jemmel", "bactrian" or "nar" - know who they are talking about! So:
Bactrian is a two-humped camel native to Mongolia and western China.
Dromedar, aka Jemmel, is a "one-humped" camel. Slender in appearance, and is common in North Africa, India and the Middle East. It is believed that this domesticated animal was never wild, and originated from the two-faced camel. The secret of these animals is that in fact they also have two humps - they are just large and, as it were, overlap, in contrast to the pointed and widely spaced humps of the Bactrians. And the dromedaries are also tougher than their camel counterparts.
But bunks are camels born from the pair “dromedar + bactrian” - such offspring surpass both parents in strength and endurance.
Man and camel
In ancient times, camels were used during hostilities instead of horses - they are much more resilient, especially when it comes to severely arid regions, and could cross the territory of deserts, carrying not only riders, but also heavy loads on their humps. If it were not for these unpretentious fellow travelers, the course of history would have been completely different - perhaps because in North Africa, camels are considered sacred animals. And at the same time, they are a source of food (meat and milk), as well as clothing for most desert inhabitants.
Camels behave in a peculiar way with a person: even being tamed, they do not allow themselves to be manipulated. If the camel lay down to rest, then it is almost impossible to make it stand up - stubborn, like a donkey, the animal will not stand on ceremony with the offender. Depending on how much the person bothers him, the camel will either spit, or roar, or even kick and bite - but it will not do what is required if it is not “in the mood”.
Camels, Science and Ethics
The time has come when man took up the domestication of camels in the key of technological progress: the first cloned camel was born at the Dubai Camel Center. The camel was named Injaz, which means "achievement" - to everyone's delight, the camel was born completely healthy. We can only hope that in the future we will not expect a meeting with genetically modified camels that glow in the dark - after all, everything in these animals was created fully expediently with their needs, and man should definitely not compete with nature, which created such unique creatures.
