What Do Camels Eat in the Desert – Camel Diet

Let us learn some of the significant insights as to what do camels eat in the desert. The ship of the desert, camel (camelidae) is one of the only few mammals which can go by couple of weeks without eating food. The adaptations of a camel allow it to live and survive in extreme climates and their behavior of withstanding long periods of time without any external source of food and water makes them even more pliable animal. Once it was believed that camels store water in their humps but as the research advances, it comes out that humps are actually the reservoirs of fats which the camel utilizes when there is not enough food. Feral camels are known to cover great distances, sometimes as much as 70 kilometers a day. They also occupy variety of semi-arid and arid habitats, depending on the summer shade and food availability.

What Do Camels Eat – Camel Diet

The Arabian camel is a one-humped camel and is endemic to North Africa. It covers miles of distances in deserts and their long double eyelashes serve as an important function to protect eyes from sand. It mainly eats thorny vegetation, twigs, date stones, desert bushes, dried leaves, seeds, fish meat, wheat, bones, dried grass, even prickly pear cactuses, and also relies on plants that are rich in salt which other animals cannot eat. Arabian camel can also drink brackish or salty water. At times when the food is scarce, these camels can become opportunistic feeders and will consume anything; they will space themselves over a large area to forage. The large leathery mouths of Arabian camels allow them to feed on thorny plants of almost any kind. They increase their grass intake in the dry season.

Camel have a leathery mouth that helps them to easily eat almost every type of vegetation such as huge thorns, salt bushes and dry plants usually avoided by other animals.

It is beleived that camels store water in their humps but this is not true. Did you also beleive in it? If yes, then you need to know more. Read on more ineresting facts about camels at Camel facts for kids.

What do Domestic Camels Eat

Camel is also a domestic animal and is reared by people who live in deserts.

1. Dates
2. Grass
3. Wheat
4. Oats
5. Hay
6. Dry Grass

Camels are browsers and they mainly eat vegetation as high as 3.5 meters above the ground. Camels feed on vegetation, including shrubs and grasses. They can gain water from moist green vegetation and so they don’t need to drink water in those green days. In summer, however, camels will regularly drink water especially at dawn. When the water is not enough they begin to search waterholes—a dehydrated camel can drink as much as 200 litres of water in just three minutes. Camels are said to be good swimmers.

What do Camels Eat – Video

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Learn more: Camel Facts for Kids