What are the real camels? We all know that the two-humped camels mainly live in Mongolia, China, Kazakstan, northern India, Russia and other places in Asia and Europe. So, what is a real camel? Let's get to know them with me.
1 What are the real kinds of camels?
Camel species
There are two kinds of camels in the world. These animals are very similar and can be matched with coke.
Dromedary camel (hump)
The dromedary camel is the most common camel in the world, accounting for about 94% of the world camel population. Their origin is the Middle East and the Horn of Africa.
two-humped camel
The frequency of bactrian camels is low, accounting for about 4% of the world camel population. They are native to parts of Central Asia.
What does a camel look like?
General description
The color of the dromedary camel is mainly brown, but it can also range from black to almost white. Camel hair (usually called "camel hair") is very long and concentrated in the throat, shoulders and hump. This thick hair protects these animals from the sun and the extreme cold and hot weather in the desert. Bactrian camels living in a relatively cold climate have more hair than dromedary camels.
Camel size (shoulder height)
Although the top of the camel's hump is the highest point of its body, its height is measured by its shoulders. This is because the height of the hump is variable and fluctuates with the storage of fat.
The adult male dromedary camel has a shoulder height of about 1.8m ~ 2m and a weight of about 400 ~ 600kg. The shoulder height of female is about 1.7m to 1.9m, and the weight is 300-540kg.
Camel's eyes, nose and ears
Camels have long curved necks. They have a pair of big eyes and excellent eyesight, and can find dangers 4-4 kilometers away. The eyes are located under the prominent brow ridge and thick eyebrows, protecting the eyes from the sun. It also has long eyelashes, which can keep out the sun and sand. In addition to the outer eyelid, the camel also has an inner eyelid composed of a thin film, which can see things in sandstorms. Camels have a good sense of smell, so they can close their nostrils to prevent sand from blowing in.
Its nose has a special nasal cavity, which moistens the air when it enters and prevents the water from flowing out. Their ears are small and round, with hair inside and outside to prevent sand from entering their ears.
Camel's mouth
Camel's lips are big and strong, and they can roll things. The upper lip is divided into two parts so that they can pick dry and prickly desert plants. Their front teeth and canine teeth grow all their lives.
Male camels produce foam in their mouths when they are excited. They have a soft upper jaw (the upper part of the inside of the mouth), which can be expanded to produce a dark pink pouch hanging on one side of the mouth to attract females in the horn season. It is often mistaken for the tongue of an animal.
Camels spit everywhere.
Camels spit when they are provoked. In fact, they are not really "expellers" like humans. On the contrary, they are more like catapults. Camel's saliva is not only composed of saliva, on the contrary, camel burps what is in its stomach into its mouth, mixes it with saliva, and then spits the mixture to its opponent with juicy lips. This smelly and sticky mixture is definitely not what you want.
Camel's hump
A dromedary camel has only one hump on its back. Contrary to popular belief, the camel's hump does not store water. On the contrary, this hump is composed of fibrous tissue and fat. It stores energy instead of water. The size of the hump depends on the fat stored in the hump.
The hump is at least 20 cm high. When the hump is fully extended, it can store up to 36 kilograms of fat, which can be broken down into water and energy by the camel when necessary. When the fat reserves are exhausted and the animals are hungry, the hump almost disappears.
Camels-Walking and Running
The dromedary camel has long and powerful legs, a big and soft foot with two toes, and a thick and flexible foot pad. This makes it easy for them to walk on soft sand and gravel, but they provide little traction on wet and muddy roads. Unlike most animals, camels move their legs on one side of their bodies at the same time (lifting their left legs-lifting their right legs instead of lifting their left and right legs at the same time like most other animals).
The stride is long and slow, and most of the time the body is supported by the leg that touches the ground on one side of the body. Camels can run at a speed of 40 kilometers per hour for a long time or sprint at a speed of 67 kilometers per hour for a short time.
What are the real camels? 2. Special adaptation.
Camels can tolerate temperatures of MINUS 29 degrees to 49 degrees.
Their long legs keep their bodies away from the hot ground to reduce overheating.
The temperature can be adjusted within the range of 34-40℃. By doing so, animals can reduce sweating, thus preserving body fluids.
Camels only sweat when their body temperature reaches 4 1-42℃.
Camel's red blood cells are oval and can flow better even when animals are dehydrated.
It can bear more than 30% of the body weight (a person can only survive by losing 15%).
Its urine is highly concentrated, and its feces are dry in order to save water.
Where do camels live?
Be distributed
The dromedary camel lives in desert and arid areas of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Middle East, Africa and Australia. Bactrian camels live in desert and arid areas of Central Asia.
habitat
Camels thrive in arid and semi-arid areas. They have no territory and wander around, walking 70 kilometers a day, relying on food, water and cool summer. In winter, camels like open plains, salt marshes and lakes. In summer, they like dense bushes and shade.
What do camels eat?
Camels are herbivores and eat almost all available plants. They are absolutely not picky about what plants they eat. They feed on grass and forage, and on shrubs and trees 3.5 meters high. When they eat, they will grab food with thick lips, and they can break branches or peel leaves with one action.
Camels have an interesting foraging feature. They tend to eat only a few leaves of each plant. This feeding behavior is undoubtedly beneficial to plants, because it reduces the pressure on plants and leaves enough food for other herbivores. This foraging behavior is thought to prevent overgrazing from killing its food source, and to reduce its intake of any specific phytotoxin by foraging on the widest leaves.
It is said that a hungry camel eats almost anything, including bones, ropes, leather goods and even canvas tents.
Camels, as ruminants, eat food for 6-8 hours every day. Just like cows, they also spend 6-8 hours ruminating. They chew food by ruminating from their stomachs. Camels don't need to drink water because the food they eat is high in water.
When food and water become scarce, camels extract energy and water from the fat stored in the hump. The longer the camel does not eat or drink, the more obvious the hump collapses.
Camel baby
About 12- 14 months after coke mating, a camel gave birth to a baby camel. Just before giving birth, she walked out of the herd and retreated to a secluded place full of vegetation to give birth. Newborn calves are born without hunchbacks. On the contrary, it has some loose skin on its back, covered with curly hair, and a hump will eventually form.
Newborn calves can walk in half an hour. The mother elephant and the baby elephant left the herd for two weeks before coming back. The cubs were fed for about 10- 18 months, and then they were completely independent.
The infant mortality rate of young camels is about 30%, and it is said that nearly half of them are caused by aggressive male camels, who will forcibly separate the female camel from the young camel in order to get burnt.
Camels will come of age in about seven years.
What are the real camels? First of all, let's learn about the species of the two-humped camels living in China. Where do they live?
Xinjiang camel
Xinjiang camels are distributed all over Xinjiang, but most of them are in northern Xinjiang, accounting for about 64% of the whole Xinjiang. Regionally, Altay and Tacheng have the largest number of camels in Xinjiang, accounting for about 24.35% of the total number of camels in Xinjiang.
The above statistics can be found in the book Bactrian Camels and Bactrian Camel Milk published in 2009. By the end of 20 16, China Animal Husbandry Association had a national camel industry statistics. According to statistics, the number of bactrian camels in Xinjiang is 189400, accounting for 5 1.34% of the total number of camels in China.
In Xinjiang, camels are the main means of transportation, because deserts and Gobi occupy a large area and transportation is inconvenient. The average weight of an adult camel is 200 kilograms. The annual wool yield of camels in northern Xinjiang is generally 3-5 kg, but the maximum wool yield of male camels can reach 14 kg.
Alashan camel
Alashan camel is named after Alashan in Inner Mongolia. Alashan has been the main producing area of camels since ancient times and is known as the "hometown of camels". The annual wool yield of Alashan camel is 3.5-5.5 kg, the daily milk yield can reach 1- 1.5 kg, and the lactation period is 14- 16 months. Its carrying capacity is strong, and the general carrying weight can reach 150-200 kg.
Su Nite camel
Su Nite Camel is also a China bimodal camel variety, which is distributed in Zuo Qi, Sunite Right Banner, Xilin Gol League and Wulanchabu League in Su Nite, Inner Mongolia. The annual wool yield of camels in Su Nite is generally about 5 kg. When you are fat in late autumn, you can produce 450-480 kg of net meat after slaughter.
After talking about the camels living in China, let's talk about the two-humped camels living in other parts of Eurasia.
Astrakhan camel
Camels in astrakhan mainly live in the Soviet Union, especially in Astrakhan province on the Volga River. The average annual wool yield of camels in astrakhan is male camel 10- 12kg and female camel 5-7kg. The milk yield can reach 6-8kg. When healthy, the fat in the two peaks and abdomen can reach 100- 1 10 kg.
Kazakh bactrian camel
Kazakh bactrian camels are mainly distributed in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and other places. Kazakh bactrian camels vary in size due to their wide distribution area, among which the bactrian camels distributed in the west of Kazakhstan are larger and the ones in the east are smaller.
Mongolian camel
Mongolian camels are mainly distributed in Mongolia and the former Soviet Union, of which Mongolia is the largest. The daily milk yield of Mongolian camels is 1- 1.5 kg, the average weight of male camels can reach 655 kg, and the shearing amount is 14- 16 kg. Camel lambs can weigh about 40 kilograms at birth.