It’s World Camel Day!

This Sunday is world camel day, and we’re celebrating the planet’s most resilient (and surprisingly charming) animals!

Here at Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm, we’re proud to care for domestic Bactrian camels. Our camels are called Hetty, Icarus and Audrey. With their thick shaggy coats, powerful legs, and those iconic double humps, these desert dwellers are full of surprises.

World Camel Day was created to highlight how important camels are to people and ecosystems around the world. From transport to milk, they’ve helped human communities thrive in some of the harshest conditions on Earth.

Did you know that camels store fat in their humps? This is a helpful survival trick they use when food is scarce in the wild. They can go long periods of time without eating or drinking!

Camels come from deserts where temperatures can range from -40°C to +40°C. To help them cope with these extreme climate changes, they have big woolly coats. These coats shed in thick clumps during spring to help keep them cool when the sun is shining, just like how we put on layers and take them off!

They also have big, flat feet which help spread their weight as they walk on sand. This not only prevents them from sinking, but also helps with speed. Camels can reach impressive speeds and are even faster than horses over sand!

But camels face growing challenges, including climate change, habitat loss and dwindling populations of wild species like the critically endangered wild Bactrian camel, a close cousin of the ones you’ll find at the zoo.

By learning more about these amazing animals, we can all help protect their wild relatives and the people who depend on them.