Today’s picture shows the other mat I bought in Dubai. This one shows two herders with their camels. These camels have only one hump so that means they are dromedary or Arabian camels. Camels with two humps are Bactrian camels.
There are three different species of camels living in the world today. Two are domesticated and one is wild. The domesticated ones are the dromedary camel and the domesticated Bactrian camel. The wild Bactrian camel is a separate species and is currently critically endangered.
The dromedary is the tallest of the three species of camel. The domesticated dromedary camels are found throughout the desert areas in North Africa and the Middle East. A feral population of dromedary camels lives in Australia.
A feral animal is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated animals. A group of dromedary camels were imported to Australia as pack animals in the 19th C. They were used to cross the desert regions in Australia. The descendants of these camels live in the wild today. Dromedary camels can live up to 40 years.
Bactrian camels are native to the Gobi Desert in China and the Bactrian steppes of Mongolia. Of course the most noticeable feature of the Bactrian camel is the two humps. Bactrians have thick, long shaggy coats during the cold weather. When it gets warmer they shed their long woolly coat which varies in colour from dark brown to sandy beige.
Bactrian camels have only one natural predator which is the grey wolf. It is estimated that only between 600-1000 Bactrian camels remain in the wild. Bactrian camels are the only land mammal that is capable of drinking salt water without any ill effects.
I have never seen a Bactrian camel but I have had the adventure of riding a Dromedary camel while on a visit to Dubai. Learn more about my adventures in the Arabian peninsula in my Travelling Tuesdays book. You can even get your own autographed copy.
