Tom Hansen, age 16, of San Diego, Calif. , for his question:
Does a camel store water in his hump?
When a camel sets out on a journey over the sandy desert, the proud hump on his back is fat and firm. When he returns from his long, weary travels, his hump may be wasted and so weak that it sags over to one side. Maybe peop1e think that the amazing animal stores water in his hump and consumes it in the arid desert. But this is not so.
Most animals need water with their mea1s as we do. Some of the jungle animals visit the water hole only once a day, and certain desert animals get their needed moisture from the plants they eat. When water is plentiful., the haughty camel will drink three to five gallons a day. When water is scarce, he can travel the dusty desert without a drink for three days or more. He can also live for a long time on short rations of food. Surplus water is stored in his special stomach surplus food is stored in his hump.
When you realize how well the sturdy camel is adapted for the hardships of desert life, you feel astonished. The two toes on each of his feet are soled with thick, spreading pads, and Mr. Camel walks an eight wide cushions which prevent him frown sinking knee deep into the shifting sand. He strides with a swaying pace, using his two right legs, then his two left legs. This rolling gait is one reason why he is called the ship of the desert.
When the dry winds hurl clouds of gritty sand across the desert, the camel can close his hairy nostrils. He has a double row of long, thick eyelashes to protect his eyes from the blowing dust. A big camel can carry a load of 600 pounds and travel 30 miles a day through the scorching desert heat. No horse, no dog, no other animal can keep up with him in the sandy desert. For three days of the desert journey, the camel needs no water. A gallon or more of water is stored in flask like containers which line the walls of one of his Three stomachs. His hump is stored with fat. Before the journey, he ate his fill of vegetation, and his body converted extra food into fat and stored it in the hump. In the desert, food is scarce and time is pressing. The camel's body then converts The stored fat into usable food. After three days, when the desert caravan usually reaches an oasis, the came1 is ready for a long drink and a meal of desert vegetation. Camels belong to the animal family canelidae. The s1ender, humped Dromedary is the indispensable draft animal of the African deserts. The more sturdy Bactrian camel is the draft animal of the cold and stony gobi desert and other rough and arid regions of Asia. The bactrian camel has two humps to use as storage pantries. But both the bactrian and the dromedary carry their extra water supplies in the walls of their stomachs.