Leçon en classe · Wildlife · 🇪🇭 Western Sahara

Saharan Camel

The ship of the desert - built for heat, sand, and long journeys

A dromedary camel standing on golden desert sand in Western Sahara

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

Qu'est-ce que c'est ?

The dromedary camel - the one-humped kind - is the most important animal in Saharan life. Camels can walk for days without water, carry heavy loads across soft sand, and stay calm in temperatures that would exhaust most animals. They are so useful in the desert that people call them 'the ship of the desert.'

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A camel's hump is not full of water - it is full of fat. That stored fat gives the camel energy on long journeys when there is no food to eat. When the fat is used up, the hump goes floppy and small. Once the camel eats and rests again, the hump slowly fills back up. A healthy camel with a full hump can go a week or more without drinking.

Camels have brilliant adaptations for sandy deserts. Their broad, padded feet spread out on soft sand like natural snowshoes so they do not sink. Their nostrils can close almost completely to keep out blowing sand. Their long eyelashes work like a brush to flick sand away from their eyes. Even their lips are tough enough to eat thorny desert plants.

In Sahrawi culture, camels are much more than transport. They provide milk (which is delicious and nutritious), wool from their thick coats, and are the stars of camel racing festivals. Sahrawi families are proud of their camels and give them individual names, just as people in other places name their horses or dogs.

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Pistes de discussion

  1. 01The camel has many special adaptations for desert life. What adaptations does a fish have for life in water?
  2. 02If you were designing a new desert animal from scratch, what three features would you give it and why?
  3. 03Why do you think people gave camels names and treated them like important family members?
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Activité en classe

Make a comparison chart. On one side write 'Camel in the Desert', on the other write 'Dolphin in the Ocean'. List five body features for each animal and explain how each feature helps that animal survive in its home.

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