Camel Facts

These camel facts are courtesy of Noel Fullerton, Northern Territory.

  • Camels first arrived in Australia in 1840 with a gentleman called Horrick
  • Horrick was actually killed by his then remaining camel that survived the journey to Australia. He jostled his owner when he went to load a muzzle loading gun and he lost two fingers and a jaw. Horricks final request was that his camel was shot, so they both died
  • At the hey-day of camels in Australia there were an estimated 20, 000 beasts owned by people in Australia and 12, 000 in work at one time.
  • The record for a bull camel lifting a weight from a sitting position in Australia (and probably the world) was one and a half tons (1500kg) for a bet
  • In 1910, there was a race between a camel and a horse over a 200km course in summer weather without water. At the halfway mark the horse beat the camel by half an hour, but then died an hour after he got there whilst the camel turned around and rode back the next day.
  • The camel’s hump consists of fatty tissue which they live off in bad times. It is a food storage, not a water storage like commonly thought!
  • All camels originated in North America and not in Asia and their fossils date back to many millions of years in the American continent
  • There are two main branches of the cameloid family and they are the dromedary and the Bactrian.
  • The Bactrian camel has two humps and frequents the cold Mongolian type deserts and are nearing extinction
  • The dromedary camel are the ones we have in Australia and also in the Arab countries.
  • A severely dehydrated camel can drink 100 litres of water in under 5 minutes and be back to normal within 12 hours. If any other animal tried, they would dilute their blood and kill themselves
  • If a camel is in an area with plenty of green vegetation, they can go 4-6 months without water. If a camel is working hard in dry areas, they must have a drink every five to ten days.
  • Camel meat is rather tender. People say you cannot pick it from beef.
  • The camel’s gestation period is 12-14 months