Dromedary

The common name "dromedary" comes from the Old French dromedaire or the Late Latin dromedarius. These originated from the Greek word dromas, δρομάς (ο, η) (GEN (γενική) dromados, δρομάδος), meaning "running" or "runner", used in Greek in the combination δρομάς κάμηλος (dromas kamelos), literally "running camel", to refer to the dromedary. The first recorded use in English of the name "dromedary" occurred in the 14th century.

The dromedary possibly originated in Arabia or Somalia and is therefore sometimes referred to as the Arabian or East African camel. The word "camel" generally refers either to the dromedary or the congeneric Bactrian; the word came into English via Old Norman, from the Latin word camēlus, from Ancient Greek κάμηλος (kámēlos), ultimately from a Semitic source akin to Hebrew גמל (gamál) and Arabic جمل (jamal), is of Sumerian origin.

• Singular: camel

• Plural: camels

The dromedary is the tallest of the three camel species. Adult males range in height between 1.8 and 2.4 m (5.9 and 7.9 ft) at the shoulder; females range between 1.7 and 1.9 m (5.6 and 6.2 ft). Males typically weigh between 400 and 690 kg (880 and 1,520 lb); females range between 300 and 540 kg (660 and 1,190 lb). The distinctive features are its long, curved neck, narrow chest and single hump (the Bactrian camel has two), thick, double-layered eyelashes and bushy eyebrows. They have sharp vision and a good sense of smell. The male has a soft palate (dulaa in Arabic) nearly 18 cm (7.1 in) long, which he inflates to produce a deep pink sac. The palate, which is often mistaken for the tongue, dangles from one side of the mouth and is used to attract females during the mating season.

The coat is generally brown but can range from black to nearly white. Leese reported piebald dromedaries in Kordofan and Darfur in Sudan. Piebald coloration in some camels is thought to be caused by the KITW1 allele of the KIT gene, though there is likely at least one other mutation that also causes white spotting. The hair is long and concentrated on the throat, shoulders and the hump. The large eyes are protected by prominent supraorbital ridges; the ears are small and rounded. The hump is at least 20 cm (7.9 in) high. The dromedary has long, powerful legs with two toes on each foot. The feet resemble flat, leathery pads. Like the giraffe, dromedaries moves both legs on one side of the body at the same time.

Compared with the Bactrian camel, the dromedary has a lighter build, longer limbs, shorter hairs, a harder palate and an insignificant or absent ethmoidal fissure. Unlike the camelids of the genus Lama, the dromedary has a hump, and in comparison has a longer tail, smaller ears, squarer feet, and a greater height at the shoulder. The dromedary has four teats instead of the two in the Lama species.

A dromedary's feet have two large, evenly sized toes with hooves like small nails at the tip of each toe. Each foot has a wide, cushioned pad at the bottom. The pad makes the camel stable by spreading its weight evenly across the wide foot. The dromedary can withstand days at 40 to 50 degrees Celsius without drinking, and it can lose 25 to 30 percent of its body water, which is lethal for most other creatures. These camels can walk 40 to 50 kilometers a day while carrying cargo because they are efficient walkers. Because of their strong, leather-like lips, dromedaries can consume dry plants and prickly shrubs.

Like their relatives, alpacas and llamas, dromedaries actually project regurgitated stomach contents, not just "spit." Dromedaries use their spit as a protective or dominant activity. Despite being uncommon in nature, dromedaries are able to swim. Camels are reported to swim over inlets to grazing islands in the Khumar region of Oman.

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The ancient camel question is: one hump or two? Arabian camels, also known as dromedaries, have only one hump, but they employ it to great effect. The hump stores up to 80 pounds of fat, which a camel can break down into water and energy when sustenance is not available. These humps give camels their legendary ability to travel up to 100 desert miles without water. Camels rarely sweat, even in desert temperatures that reach 120°F, so when they do take in fluids, they can conserve them for long periods of time. In winter, even desert plants may hold enough moisture to allow a camel to live without water for several weeks.

Pacing is an unstable gait that works best on level ground, such as that found in deserts. Since this animal spends most of its day moving from plant to plant for browsing or grazing, its pace-like gait—which is by far its primary gait—may have developed from it. The camel's digitigrade stance, huge feet that help it stand on soft sand, and flexible pad bottoms allow it to easily step onto small stones when needed. The body is supported on the two right or two left legs for most of each long, slow walking stride.

As herbivores, dromedary camels mostly consume saltbush, dry grasses, and thorny plants, but they will consume almost anything that grows in the desert. Dromedaries mostly browse, and up to 70% of their diet consists of bushes and forbs. Grazing takes place for 8–12 hours every day, with equivalent amounts of time spent ruminating. Camels typically forage over wide areas, picking only a few leaves from each plant.  This kind of grazing habit eases competition with other herbivores found in arid regions and lessens the impact on plant populations.

By feeding on the greatest range of foliage, this type of foraging may help the camels consume fewer toxins from any one plant. Additionally, in order to absorb and store water, dromedaries require six to eight times as much salt as other animals. Halophytic plants must therefore make up one-third of their diet. In a single motion, dromedaries cut off branches or remove leaves as they browse up to 3.5 meters in height. They grip the food with their lips while browsing, chewing it 40–50 times per bite.  When chewing prickly food, the mouth remains open.

Dromedary camels are used as beasts of burden by humans and also provide humans with milk, meat, wool, leather, and fuel from dried manure. Through these services, dromedary camels have enabled humans to inhabit extremely arid regions. Dromedary husbandry is increasing today and is being recognized as an ecologically sound method of producing protein-rich food in arid areas.

Pythons, bigger eagles, crocodiles, lions, leopards, tigers, bears, hyenas, wolves, dholes, and possibly great white sharks or killer whales are among the numerous predators of the dromedary besides humans.

Reproduction

• Breeding season: cooler months (winter in most desert regions).

• Gestation: 12–14 months.

• Usually a single calf, rarely twins.

• Calves walk within hours and wean at 1–2 years.

Dromedaries are gregarious creatures that typically establish herds under the leadership of a dominant male. They use body language, groans, bleats, and grunts to communicate. Males in rut can become aggressive during the breeding season or when they are around others, but otherwise, dromedaries are generally peaceful. Dromedaries are gentle and friendly creatures. Most people don't get much of a chance to interact with them, so they might have many questions about this interesting creature, including what types of camels there are and what camels eat.

Despite their frightening appearance, camels are very emotional and, in general, are more inquisitive, affectionate, and attention-seeking than a horse. Treat a camel well, and its loyalty will rival that of a dog. Oddly enough, yes, camels will eat snakes, but it's rarely of their own volition. While there may be instances in which it's necessary for the survival of a camel to eat something it normally wouldn't, like a snake, there aren't any known examples of camels going out of their way to eat a snake.

World Dromedary population decreased 15 % from 1960 to 2000, with current numbers 18 - 21 million, including one million camels in Australia. In some countries the decline has been severe over the last century; for example in Syria the population decreased from 250,000 in 1922 to not more than 22,000 in 2010.

In Australia Dromedary competition with livestock for forage and water, and significant environmental and infrastructure damage caused by Dromedaries, have prompted culling, with the goal of maintaining a sustainable population for utilization of their meat, hides, and wool. Despite groups of Dromedaries seen moving and grazing without a herder in the Sahara and Arabian deserts, they all have owners. Numbers have drastically declined in Arabian countries during past half century due to modernization and industrialization, forced settlement of nomads, desert forage resources not well developed, low reproductive rate, decreased demand for camel meat and milk, poor genetic selection for breed improvement, and government encouragement of other domestic species.

Threats

• Habitat loss (for feral dromedaries) - Expansion of agriculture, settlements, and roads in North Africa and the Middle East reduces traditional grazing lands.

• Abuse or poor welfare in entertainment or tourism in some regions.

• Desertification reduces the availability of forage.

• However, camels are more resilient to climate change than most livestock—so the threat is indirect.

• Camels used for heavy labor, tourism rides, or racing can face poor welfare if operations are unregulated.

• Young males may be culled in some cultures because they are less useful.

• Diseases and outbreaks of:

  • MERS-CoV (camels can carry it, though it rarely harms them)

  • Camel pox

  • Trypanosomiasis (“surra” disease)

• Lack of veterinary access for nomadic communities worsens impacts.

• Poor treatment can include:

  • Overloading

  • Inadequate water access

  • Improper saddles causing sores

  • Being forced to work in extreme heat

Conservation Status

• The species is considered domesticated, so no official conservation status.

Conservation Efforts

• Habitat protection.

• Anti-poaching enforcement.

• Rescue and rehabilitation centers.

• Awareness campaigns against illegal pet trade.

• In the Arabian Peninsula, Australia, and North Africa, cultural festivals reinforce long-standing camel traditions:

  • Camel beauty contests

  • Camel races

  • Nomadic heritage events

• Helps maintain the breed diversity and traditional knowledge.

• Government programs to:

  • Reduce population pressure through targeted culling

  • Support Indigenous and Arab ranger groups in camel control

• Explore humane capture for:

  • Export

  • Meat production

  • Dairy industry

• These efforts are ecological, not species-level conservation.

• Universities and veterinary institutes study:

  • Heat stress resistance

  • Sustainable grazing

  • Camel milk productivity

  • Disease prevention (e.g., MERS, pox, parasites)

• Improvements include:

  • Regulation of tourism camel rides

  • Better racing camel welfare standards

  • Microchipping and tracking of camels to prevent illegal markets

The dromedary may have been first domesticated in Somalia or the Arabian Peninsula about 4,000 years ago. In the ninth or tenth century BC, the dromedary became popular in the Near East. The Persian invasion of Egypt under Cambyses in 525 BC introduced domesticated camels to the area. The Persian camels were not well-suited to trading or travel over the Sahara; journeys across the desert were made on chariots pulled by horses.

Its range included hot, arid regions of northern Africa, Ethiopia, the Near East, and western and central Asia. The dromedary typically thrives in areas with a long dry season and a short wet season. They are sensitive to cold and humidity, though some breeds can thrive in hu

mid conditions.

Dromedaries were also shipped from south-western Asia to Spain, Italy, Turkey, France, Canary Islands, the Americas and Australia. Dromedaries were introduced into Spain in 1020 AD and to Sicily in 1059 AD. Camels were exported to the Canary Islands in 1405 during the European colonization of the area, and are still extant there, especially in Lanzarote and to the south of Fuerteventura. Attempts to introduce dromedaries into the Caribbean, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil were made between the 17th and 19th centuries; some were imported to the western United States in the 1850s and some to Namibia in the early 1900s, but presently they exist in small numbers or are absent in these areas.

Feral dromedary populations occur in Australia, where they were introduced in 1840 by Muslims from Afghanistan for Aboriginal Australians, as well as introduced Islam, most Aboriginals taboo for their own religion to Catholic and Protestant Christianity. Most of Australian feral camels are dromedaries, with only a few Bactrian camels. Most of the dromedaries occur in Western Australia, with smaller populations in the Northern Territory, Western Queensland and northern South Australia.

In Mena regions, South Asia and Australia, these dromedaries are pest because of problem to the natural habitat, deforestation, overexploitation and competitive against native species or introduced species as no retreat or no surrender tactics, because this camels easily eating leaves, including cactuses. Camels are of concern to religious problems and in cities in MENA region, indigenous communities in Australia to South Asia because they can foul water holes and damage ceremonial art and other cultural sites that are often associated with water holes, as well as taipans or cobras are not safe for camels, because their diet lack of nutrition for eating meat after eating leaves and flower buds.

During The Recollections of Queen Arianna (TROQA) saga in the 2600s and 2700s, the "Sky People" or Terrans from Earth brought the dromedary to two exoplanets that resembled Earth: Reinachos from Cygnus and Berbania from Ursa Major. Despite the death of our planet, this species is recovering from endangerment or near extinction thanks to conservation initiatives. Human interactions for game hunting and rewilding produced this species, but they backfired because the camel became an invasive species. In two exoplanets that resembled Earth, dromedaries lived in environments and climates similar to Earth's.

• Movement Pattern: Nomadic/Full Migrant

• Individual Type: Solo/Herd

• Population Trend: Stable

• Population: ugh

• Locomotion: Terrestrial

• Habitat: Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Salt Flats; Tropical Grasslands; Tropical Savannas and Shrublands; Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands, and Scrub; Deserts and Xeric Shrublands; Badlands; Flooded Grasslands and Savannas; Swamp; Air-breathing Coral Reefs; Graveyard Vale; Mountain; Warm River; Cold River; Lukewarm River; Subterranean River; Warm Pond; Cold Pond; Aquifer; Warm Littoral; Cold Littoral; Warm Intertidal; Cold Intertidal; Karst Cave; Karst Spring; Lava Tube; Volcano; Lava Trench; Basalt Delta.

• Earth: 

  • Extant (Resident): Afghanistan; Algeria; Egypt; India; Iran; Iraq; Israel; Jordan; Kuwait; Kyrgyzstan; Lebanon; Libya; Mali; Mauritania; Morocco; Pakistan; Palestine; Omar; Saudi Arabia; Syria; Tajikistan; Tunisia; Turkmenistan; Turkiye; Uzbekistan

  • Extant & Introduced (Resident): Australia; Bahrain; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; France; Italy; Niger; Nigeria; Kenya; Qatar; Portugal; Spain; Somalia; North Sudan; South Sudan

• Berbania/Hirawhassa: 

  • Extant & Introduced (Resident): UGH

• Reinachos/Ityosel: 

  • Extant & Introduced (Resident): UGH

• Sawintir: 

  • Extant & Introduced (Resident): ugh

Camels can be ridden by placing a saddle on it. The saddle can be placed on the camel by holding it and then using it on the camel or by accessing its inventory. A camel's inventory can be accessed by riding it and opening the player's inventory or by sneaking and then pressing the "open inventory" button, just like a horse. Put the saddle on its back was always be domesticated, despite being as feral or wild animal.

Coming soon.

• Afrikaans: Dromedaris

• aragonés: Dromedario

• Arabic: جمل عربي، جمل وحيد السنام

• azərbaycanca: Birhürgüclü dəvə

• Belarusian (тарашкевіца): Вярблюд аднагорбы

• Belarusian: Вярблюд аднагорбы

• Bulgarian: Едногърба камила

• brezhoneg: Dremedal

• català: Dromedari

• čeština: Velbloud jednohrbý

• dansk: Dromedar

• Deutsch: Dromedar

• Greek: Κάμηλος η δρομάς

• Eastern Elvish: Ekumpa Sirni

• Western Elvish: Ahumip Sirni

• English: Dromedary

• Esperanto: Dromedaro

• español: Dromedario

• euskara: Dromedario

• Farsi: شتر یک‌کوهانه

• suomi: Dromedaari

• français: Dromadaire

• Gàidhlig: Dromadair

• galego: Dromedario

• Ivrit: גמל חד-דבשתי

• Hindustani: ऊँट

• hrvatski: Dromedar

• magyar: Egypúpú teve

• interlingua: Dromedario

• Bahasa Indonesia: Unta Arab

• Ido: Dromedaro

• íslenska: Drómedari

• italiano: Dromedario

• Nihongo: ヒトコブラクダ

• Kazakh: Бір өркешті түйе

• Korean: 단봉낙타

• lietuvių: Vienkupris kupranugaris

• Bahasa Melayu: Unta Arab

• Nederlands: Dromedaris

• norsk nynorsk: Dromedar

• norsk: Dromedar

• occitan: Camelus dromedarius

• polski: Wielbłąd jednogarbny

• português: Dromedário

• română: Dromader

• Russian: Одногорбый верблюд

• sicilianu: Drumidariu

• Serbo-Croatian: Dromedar

• slovenčina: Ťava jednohrbá

• slovenščina: Enogrba kamela

• Srpski: Једногрба камила

• svenska: Dromedar

• Türkçe: Tek hörgüçlü deve

• Ukrainian: Одногорбий верблюд

• Tiếng Việt: Lạc đà một bướu

• Chinese Mandarin: 單峰駱駝

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• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dromedary

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_feral_camel

• https://www.gbif.org/species/9055455

• https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Camelus_dromedarius

• https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/81542-Camelus-dromedarius

• https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Camelus_dromedarius/#geographic_range

• https://www.cabo-adventures.com/en/blog/fun-facts-about-camels/

• https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/blog/camel-fact-sheet/#:~:text=Meanwhile%2C%20the%20dromedary%20camel%20is,weighs%20880%20to%201%2C320%20pounds

• https://minecraft.wiki/w/Camel

• https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/arabian-camel

• https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/travel/activities-and-interests/you-think-rodeo-looks-hard-try-getting-on-a-camel/article4394116/

• https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/jesus_christ_414649?src=t_camel

• https://www.deviantart.com/ognimdo2002/art/Dromedary-945138465