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Sunday 24 November 2013

Camel

CAMEL HISTORY

Camels were domesticated around 4,000 years ago. Ever since, they have provided meat, milk, wool, and hides to various desert- and mountain-dwelling peoples of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.

Camel is considered unclean meat in the Bible.

In about 1000 BC a significant revolution took place in Arabian trade, when the undemanding single-humped Arabian dromedary camel was first used for local and long-distance land transportation. Plodding along at two miles an hour and carrying burdens up to five hundred pounds, the camel could cover twenty-five miles a day, required very little food and water, and thus (since larger loads were possible) cut down the costs of the caravan.


While filming Lawrence of Arabia in the early 1960s, the movie's star Peter O'Toole found riding camels so uncomfortable that he bought a piece of foam rubber at a local market in Jordan and added it to his saddle. Extras began to do the same, and local Bedouins nicknamed O'Toole "Father of the Sponge."

The world’s first commercial dromedary dairy opened in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1986, selling camel milk at £1.90 a litre.

‘Miss Dromedary’, a beauty contest for camels, was first held in Saudi Arabia on April 22, 1995. The competition was organized to celebrate the country's cultural heritage and to promote the breeding of high-quality camels. Emir Sultan ibn Mohammad ibn Saud al-Kebir donated the $500,000 prize money for the winner of the contest. The competition is still held annually in Saudi Arabia, and it has become a popular event that attracts breeders and enthusiasts from around the world.

12 camels were disqualified from a Saudi beauty pageant when a veterinarian was caught injecting their noses, lips, and jaw with botox to make them more attractive.

A United Arab Emirates man paid $390,000 in Oman for the "Daughter of Hamloul" in 1996. The Daughter of Hamloul was Oman’s fastest racing camel.

1,108 Mongolian jockeys took to their saddles in March 2016 for a history-making race. The track in Dalanzadgad city was just over 15 km long, with the fastest animal finishing in 35 min 12 sec. It broke the world record for the largest ever camel race.

CAMEL BIOLOGY

Camel milk does not curdle.

Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from blowing sand.

Two of a camel's eyelids have lashes and the third eyelid comes from the corner of the eye.

Camels have big, flat footpads, which allow them to walk on the sand without sinking.

Camels can run up to 40 miles per hour.

A camel can travel up to 100 desert miles without water, and even the moisture gained from a desert plant is enough to allow a camel to live without water for several weeks.

When a camel uses the fat in its hump to compensate for lack of drinking water, its hump(s) become floppy and flabby. To quickly refuel, a thirsty camel can drink as many as 30 gallons of water in about 13 minutes.

                                             
Giraffes and rats can last longer without water than camels.

Camels chew in a figure 8 pattern.

Camels do not store water in their humps, as it is commonly believed. The humps are actually reservoirs of fatty tissue.

Despite the hump, a camel's spine is straight.

Camels can open and close their nostrils.

A camel can lose up to 30 percent of its body weight in perspiration and continue to cross the desert. A human would die of heat shock after sweating away only 12 percent of body weight.

FUN CAMEL FACTS

In Qatar there is a sport called Robot Camel Racing where robots are placed on top of the camels are operated by a joystick, using the right hand to crack whips and the left to pull on the reins. by law they are the only jockeys allowed in Qatar.

Camels are very social and like to greet each other by blowing in each other's faces.

Camels are called "ships of the desert" because of the way they move, not because of their transport capabilities.


The world camel population is 19,627,000.

There are more wild camels in Australia than in any other country. The population is estimated to be about 3 million, spread across 37% of the Australian mainland.

The longest recorded life span of a camel was 35 years, 5 months.

In Idaho, You may not fish on a camel's back.

In Nevada it is illegal to ride a camel on the highway.

Source Greatfacts.com

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