The one-humped camel, and the tallest of the three camel species. First domesticated in the Arabian Peninsula about 4,000 years ago, it has not lived wild for nearly 2,000 years, apart from a feral population in Australia.
Quick answers
What is it?Mammal
Carnivore?No, herbivore
Dangerous?Can be
Generally non-aggressive, except for males in the rut.
Domesticated?Yes
Awake when?Daytime
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?Yes
Its meat and milk support several North African peoples.
At a glance
Found inAfrica, Asia
HabitatDesert, Scrub
ColoursTan, Brown
SizeLarge
Height1.8–2.4 m at the shoulder (males)
Weight400–690 kg (males); 300–540 kg (females)
Legs4
Covered inFur
Lives inherds
Lives for40–50 years
Can swim
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Dry regions of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the Thar Desert of India and Pakistan, plus a feral population in Australia.
- What it eats
- Desert plants. It can lose more than 30% of its body water and survive.
Did you know
The one-humped majority - about 94% of the world's camels are dromedaries, not the two-humped Bactrian kind.
Its hump is made of fat bound together by fibrous tissue, and stands 20 cm or more tall.
Often confused with
- Camel
The dromedary has one hump. The Bactrian camel has two and is up to a foot taller.
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