All information about the Dromedary

Types of dromedaries

A dromedary is a mammal and belongs to a subspecies of camelids. With about two camels and about four lama species, the family of camelids is not a large family. To this family belong:

• The camel (Camelus ferus bactrianus)

• The dromedary (Camelus dromedarius)

• The alpaca (Vicugna pacos)

• The llama (Lama glama)

• The vicuña (Vicugna vicugna)

• The guanaco (Lama guanicoe)

The difference between a dromedary and a camel

The dromedary and the camel are obviously very similar, but there are some differences! The biggest difference is the number of humps on its back. The dromedary has 1 hump on its back and the camel has 2 humps. In addition, a dromedary has shorter hair, longer legs and is more slenderly built than a camel. The animals' habitat is also different. The camel is from Central Asia and the dromedary is originally from the Middle East. The animals can interbreed with each other. A cross between a dromedary and a camel is called a hybrid camel.

What does a dromedary look like?

A dromedary can be recognized, of course, by the hump on its back. This hump consists of fat. This fat is reserve energy for when food is scarce. The hump can weigh up to 36 kg! Besides this well-known external characteristic, the animal's height at the withers is 180 to 200 centimeters. In a female, this is about 10 centimeters less. Including the hump, a dromedary is about between 190 and 230 cm tall.

The coat of a dromedary is predominantly short but is just a bit longer on the crown, neck, neck, trunk, at the hump and at the tail. The color of the fur ranges from various shades of brown to sandy. A dromedary is often found in dry environments. The animal is well adapted to this by having long hairs at the nostrils and ears and an extra row of long eyelashes to keep out the sand.

Our Rangers explore the desert and its inhabitants. Will you be the first to see the dromedary?

The hump of a dromedary

A dromedary's hump stores fat. This allows a dromedary to survive for several days without water and food in a hot desert. The fat from the hump is used to extract energy and moisture.

Lots of animals (and we humans too) store fat on their bodies as a reserve. But in most animals, it is spread around their bodies. In dromedaries and camels, it is on their backs to keep them from overheating in the desert. The fat acts as insulation and blocks much of the sun's heat.

How old does a dromedary get?

Dromedaries can live between 40 and 50 years.

What does a dromedary eat?

From grasses to parched plants, the dromedary eats almost anything that grows in the desert. The animal spends about 8 to 12 hours a day eating. To store a lot of water, a dromedary must eat a lot of salt. Thus, about 1/3 of its food consists of plants which contain a lot of salt. When a dromedary can drink, they drink a lot: sometimes more than a hundred liters of water in ten minutes.

A dromedary's teeth are always growing. To wear down the teeth, they nibble on bones and hard pieces of wood.

The habitat of the dromedary

The wild dromedary went extinct about 2,000 years ago. All the dromedaries now found in deserts around the world are domesticated. That is, they have been bred by humans and kept as livestock and pack animals.

The domesticated form of the dromedary has been introduced to many areas. From northern and eastern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and southwest Asia, to northern India and even Australia. An attempt was even made to keep the dromedary in Europe, unfortunately it was not very successful. However, you can encounter the animals in the Canary Islands.

In many places where dromedaries are kept by humans, you will also find feral dromedaries. These are animals that escaped or were released and continued to live in the wild. Currently, you will find the largest herd of feral dromedaries in Central and Western Australia. In the past, the animals were used to explore and colonize the drylands. The animals were also used to bring food to settlements and to transport materials for railroad lines. When the animals were no longer needed, they were released. There are now so many dromedaries that they are a plague in Australia.

Conservation

Fortunately, then, the dromedary is not endangered. But unfortunately, many of the species you see in our park are endangered and are struggling in their original habitats. Did you know that worldwide more than 4000 animal species are threatened with extinction? are endangered? Together we can help them, with big, or small steps. Want to know how? Then click here.

In the Netherlands you can also see the dromedary. Will you come take a look with us?

Does the dromedary live in a group?

The group in which a dromedary lives is called a herd. This herd can consist of from 2 to 20 animals. The herd consists of a dominant male, one or more females and their young. When the herd moves around, all the animals walk in a single line behind each other. The male directs the group from behind and makes sure no other males come near the females. The females take charge every other neighborhood.

Is a dromedary dangerous?

You will rarely see aggressive behavior in a dromedary. Only during the mating season when males compete with each other for a female can they be aggressive towards each other.

Reproduction of the dromedary

Females usually mate for the first time when they are 4 or 5 years old, males show around their 3^e already show sexual behavior but are not sexually mature until they are 6 years old. The mating season is in winter and the gestation period is 15 months.

A dromedary normally gives birth to one young every two years. After just a few days, the young can walk by itself and also eat plants on its own. The cub also drinks milk from the mother for about a year. In total, the mother takes care of the cub for 1 to 2 years.

How fast is a dromedary?

A dromedary has a special way of walking called the counting walk. This involves first moving both legs from one side at the same time and then moving the legs on the other side simultaneously. The top speed of a dromedary is about 65 kilometers per hour.