Nursing Baby Camel

The camels of Saudi Arabia are the one-hump Dromedary camels. Their humps do not store water, as is popularly believed - they actually are made of a mound of fat, which allows camels to survive in severe heat and drought for longer periods of time than other mammals. A baby camel is called a calf and weighs about 90 pounds when born. Calves are not able to stand immediately at birth - it usually takes them a few hours to be able to stand. They can be very playful creatures. Baby camels nurse from their mamas like all mammals do. Adult camels can grow to be as heavy as 1500 pounds and as old as 50 years. In Saudi Arabia, camels are a source of milk and meat. In fact, camel milk is such a healthy whole food that it has been reported that some nomadic tribes have subsisted solely on camel milk for six months at a time.