A camel’s hump stores fat, not water. As he eats and drinks, he builds hump fat reserves that sustain him through lean times. A camel’s water intake varies according to his environment, his exertion level and the amount of fat in his hump. A thirsty camel can drink more than 30 gallons of water in less than 15 minutes.
Bactrian camels live in central and eastern Asia; dromedaries, or Arabian camels, live in northern Africa and the Middle East. The two types of camels are distinguished by their humps — the dromedary has a single large hump, while the Bactrian camel is dual-humped. Though their humps are shaped differently, they function the same way, serving as fat stores to get camels through times of limited resources.
The number of humps doesn’t affect the humps’ purpose; both types can hold up to 80 pounds of fat. The humps change as the camels draw upon the fat in their humps for energy if they don’t have food to eat or water to drink. As the fat is used, the bactrian camel’s humps will lean over and droop. The dromedary’s more elastic hump shrinks in size.
The amount of water a camel drinks depends on many things, including the kind of work he’s doing, the environmental conditions and how much he currently has in his hump. A very thirsty camel may drink up to 32 gallons of water in approximately 13 minutes. The camel’s diet also provides hydration opportunities; when the vegetation the camel eats is higher in water content, such as during colder months, he may forgo drinking because he gets what he needs from green plants.
Credit : Pets on Mom.com
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