# Camel
A camel is a large, even-toed ungulate mammal of the genus *Camelus*, adapted to life in deserts and arid lands, represented today by three species: the one-humped dromedary (*Camelus dromedarius*), the two-humped domestic [Bactrian camel](https://www.edgepedia.org/bactrian-camel) (*Camelus bactrianus*), and the wild Bactrian camel (*Camelus ferus*).[1](https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6188) • [2](https://www.fao.org/dairy-production-products/dairy/camels/en) Camels live in Africa and Asia, are kept mostly by nomads, and are raised for milk, meat, fiber, transport and other work; their dung is used as fuel.[2](https://www.fao.org/dairy-production-products/dairy/camels/en)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Species | Dromedary (*C. dromedarius*), domestic Bactrian camel (*C. bactrianus*), and wild Bactrian camel (*C. ferus*)[1](https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6188) • [3](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jals/26/4/26_205/_article/-char/en) |
| Desert tolerance | Withstands temperatures above 40 °C and water losses greater than 25% of body weight; losses above 15% are fatal in non-desert mammals[1](https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6188) |
| Body temperature | Can vary from 34 °C to 41 °C, reducing the need to sweat and conserving water[4](https://www.fao.org/4/t0690e/t0690e09.htm) |
| Drinking | In dry seasons drinks up to 60 liters every 10 days; a thirsty camel in a hot dry season can drink up to 200 liters at once[4](https://www.fao.org/4/t0690e/t0690e09.htm) |
| Domestication | Began around the start of the III millennium BC, for the dromedary in southeast Arabia and the Bactrian camel in southwest Central Asia[3](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jals/26/4/26_205/_article/-char/en) |
| Global population | Estimated at more than 41 million head; Kenya is the largest camel milk producer, followed by Somalia and Pakistan[2](https://www.fao.org/dairy-production-products/dairy/camels/en) |
| Conservation | The wild Bactrian camel (*Camelus ferus*) is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List[5](https://nc.iucnredlist.org/redlist/amazing-species/camelus-ferus/pdfs/original/camelus-ferus.pdf) |
## Species and classification
The name camel refers to the [Old World](https://www.edgepedia.org/old-world) camelids, the tribe Camelini, represented today by three species: the wild Bactrian camel (*Camelus ferus*), its relative the domesticated Bactrian camel (also called the Asian camel), and the domesticated dromedary (also called the Arabian or Indian camel), whose wild ancestor went extinct during the I millennium BC.[3](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jals/26/4/26_205/_article/-char/en) The dromedary is described as the camel of the plains and the Bactrian camel as the camel of the mountains.[2](https://www.fao.org/dairy-production-products/dairy/camels/en) The two domestic species and the alpaca (*[Vicugna pacos](https://www.edgepedia.org/alpaca)*), a South American camelid adapted to plateaus, are economically important livestock.[1](https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6188)
The wild Bactrian camel survives in northwestern China and southwestern Mongolia and is protected under Appendix I of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.[5](https://nc.iucnredlist.org/redlist/amazing-species/camelus-ferus/pdfs/original/camelus-ferus.pdf)
## Domestication history
Domestication of camels happened at the start of the III millennium BC in their natural habitats, for the dromedary in southeast Arabia and for the Bactrian camel in southwest Central Asia.[3](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jals/26/4/26_205/_article/-char/en) Three steps of domestication and use are distinguished: harvesting the animal's body products, use as a transport animal (drafted, loaded, and ridden), and use as a military animal.[3](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jals/26/4/26_205/_article/-char/en) From the start of the I millennium BC, new saddle types and hybridization techniques promoted, across the arid expanses of [Afro-Eurasia](https://www.edgepedia.org/afro-eurasia), the superiority of the loaded camel over wheeled and draft transport, and of camelry over cavalry.[3](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jals/26/4/26_205/_article/-char/en)
## Desert adaptations
**Water economy.** The dromedary's adaptations form a mosaic of mechanisms that contribute to one ultimate function, the economy of water.[6](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0093691X2030340X) Camels tolerate temperatures exceeding 40 °C and water losses greater than 25% of total body weight, whereas in non-desert mammals losses greater than 15% are fatal.[1](https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6188) A camel can vary its body temperature between 34 °C and 41 °C and produces small amounts of concentrated urine; in cold weather, and when green feed is available, it may go without drinking for months because it obtains water from plants.[4](https://www.fao.org/4/t0690e/t0690e09.htm)
**The hump.** The hump stores fat rather than water.[7](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2019.00588/pdf) In Alashan Bactrian camels, the hump is 90.64% crude fat by wet weight, with 7.26% moisture, 2.91% protein, 2.13% collagen, and 0.208% ash.[8](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13346034/) Oxidation of fat within the hump produces metabolic water that supplies the camel's vital functions, and in dry seasons when feed is scarce a camel can live off this stored fat, losing up to 200 kg in weight.[8](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13346034/) • [4](https://www.fao.org/4/t0690e/t0690e09.htm)
**Feeding and salt.** Camels browse on bushes and tree branches, reaching up to 3 meters, and can eat sharp, thorny plants that other animals cannot, crushing woody plants with strong canine teeth.[4](https://www.fao.org/4/t0690e/t0690e09.htm) Salt is important to their water balance: a camel needs about 1 kg of salt a week, roughly eight times as much as cattle and sheep.[4](https://www.fao.org/4/t0690e/t0690e09.htm) Genomic analysis found that sodium ion transport evolved more rapidly in both camels than in cattle, and the Bactrian camel genome carries two copies of the [NR3C2](https://www.edgepedia.org/nr3c2) and IRS1 genes, which play critical roles in sodium reabsorption and water balance in the kidney, whereas other mammals possess only a single copy of each.[1](https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6188)
**Vision and heat stress.** Genes related to photoreception and visual protection, including OPN1SW, CX3CR1 and CNTFR, show signs of positive selection in both camel species, suggesting a genetic basis for enduring prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light without damage to the visual system.[1](https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6188) Heat shock proteins (HSP) are suggested to play a key role in protein homeostasis and thermotolerance in the Arabian camel.[7](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2019.00588/pdf)
## Genomics
High-quality genome sequences of the Bactrian camel, dromedary, and alpaca, published in 2014, revealed the demographic history of these species since the Tortonian Stage of the Miocene and a striking correlation between large fluctuations in population size and geological time boundaries.[1](https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6188) Comparative analysis identified features related to desert adaptations, including fat and water metabolism and stress responses to heat, aridity, intense ultraviolet radiation, and choking dust.[1](https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6188) Transcriptomic analysis of Bactrian camels further revealed unique osmoregulation, osmoprotection, and compensatory mechanisms for water reservation underpinned by high blood glucose levels, which the authors hypothesize represent kidney evolutionary adaptations to the desert environment.[1](https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6188)
## Reproduction and lifespan
The female camel typically produces one young every two years, a low rate of reproduction; a female usually gives birth to about eight young over her life.[4](https://www.fao.org/4/t0690e/t0690e09.htm) [Gestation](https://www.edgepedia.org/gestation) lasts 390 days in the one-humped camel and 406 days in the two-humped camel, and the average newborn calf weighs around 35 kilograms.[4](https://www.fao.org/4/t0690e/t0690e09.htm) Camels can live to around 40 years of age, though from 15 years they have difficulty with hard feedstuffs as the front teeth wear.[4](https://www.fao.org/4/t0690e/t0690e09.htm)
## Milk and products
For nomadic peoples, camel milk frequently ranks as the animal's chief product and serves as their dietary mainstay; while traveling to find grazing land, they may spend as long as a month in the desert surviving on it alone.[2](https://www.fao.org/dairy-production-products/dairy/camels/en) Camels can produce more milk from poor feed than any other dairy species.[2](https://www.fao.org/dairy-production-products/dairy/camels/en) Under low-input systems, five liters a day is considered a decent yield; lactating camels generally produce between 1,000 and 2,700 liters per lactation in Africa, while camels in [South Asia](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-asia) have been reported to produce up to 12,000 liters per lactation.[2](https://www.fao.org/dairy-production-products/dairy/camels/en) [Dromedary](https://www.edgepedia.org/dromedary) milk is slightly saltier than cow milk and can contain on average eight times more vitamin C, an alternative source of this micronutrient for people in arid areas who cannot obtain vitamin C from fruits and vegetables.[2](https://www.fao.org/dairy-production-products/dairy/camels/en) Meat, fiber (wool and hair), and bone for handcrafts are also used.[4](https://www.fao.org/4/t0690e/t0690e09.htm)
## Camels and climate adaptation
In the drylands of Africa, where rainfall has declined and droughts have become more frequent, pastoralists have increasingly turned to camel herding as a response.[9](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5143358/) In northern Kenya, camels are replacing cattle: there are around four million camels in Kenya, a number that may be underestimated for lack of a census, and a 2016 study by the International Livestock Research Institute estimated that camel numbers had doubled in Samburu County in 30 years.[10](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2024/06/16/camels-replace-cows-in-kenya-due-to-climate-change_6674901_114.html) During the 2020 to 2023 drought, the worst the [Horn of Africa](https://www.edgepedia.org/horn-of-africa) had seen in 40 years, cattle herds were decimated while camels survived; a Samburu camel's roughly 15-kg hump of fat allows it to go without food and water for five days, and camels browse thorny shrubs rather than grazing, reducing pressure on pasture.[10](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2024/06/16/camels-replace-cows-in-kenya-due-to-climate-change_6674901_114.html) Camel mortality patterns show higher survival rates than other livestock species during extreme drought events, supporting nutritional security when other livestock perish.[11](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sd.71136) [Camel milk](https://www.edgepedia.org/camel-milk) markets have grown accordingly: in Nairobi's Eastleigh district, over 20,000 liters of camel milk are reported sold daily at one shopping center, and a liter sells at two to three times the price of cow's milk.[10](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2024/06/16/camels-replace-cows-in-kenya-due-to-climate-change_6674901_114.html)
## References
1. [Camelid genomes reveal evolution and adaptation to desert environments, Nature Communications 5, 5188 (2014)](https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6188)
2. [Camels, FAO Gateway to Dairy Production and Products](https://www.fao.org/dairy-production-products/dairy/camels/en)
3. [Renato Sala (2017). The Domestication of Camel in the Literary, Archaeological and Petroglyph Records. Journal of Arid Land Studies 26(4): 205-211](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jals/26/4/26_205/_article/-char/en)
4. [Chapter 7: Camels, llamas and alpacas, FAO](https://www.fao.org/4/t0690e/t0690e09.htm)
5. [Bactrian Camel (Camelus ferus), IUCN Red List amazing species](https://nc.iucnredlist.org/redlist/amazing-species/camelus-ferus/pdfs/original/camelus-ferus.pdf)
6. [Dromedary camel: A model of heat resistant livestock animal, Theriogenology 154 (2020)](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0093691X2030340X)
7. [Cellular and Molecular Adaptation of Arabian Camel to Heat Stress, Frontiers in Genetics (2019)](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2019.00588/pdf)
8. [Camel hump: composition, bioactivities, and multifunctional sustainable applications, PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13346034/)
9. [Camels and Climate Resilience: Adaptation in Northern Kenya, PMC (2016)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5143358/)
10. [Camels replace cows in Kenya due to climate change, Le Monde (16 June 2024)](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2024/06/16/camels-replace-cows-in-kenya-due-to-climate-change_6674901_114.html)
11. [Camels as a Climate-Resilient Linchpin for Sustainable Development in Global Drylands, Sustainable Development (Wiley)](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sd.71136)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Animals › Vertebrates › Mammals › Ungulates*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license