Is a camel's hump used to store water?

Camels are known as 'ships in the desert', they can survive in the desert as well as in harsh hot environments. Many people think that camel's hump is used to store large amounts of water needed for their survival, but is this true?

According to the science site Live Science, the humps of camels are not used to store water, but rather fat, which helps them survive in the dry season without water and food.

When there is enough food, camels will absorb enough calories and store them inside the hump to cope with the disease, according to animal care expert at the San Diego Zoo in California, USA, Rick Schwartz. periods of food shortage.

When the humps are fully stored, they will be able to live for about 4-5 months without food. When they use up all the stored fat, their bumps will collapse like deflated balloons. It wasn't until they ate enough food that the hump swelled up again.

Mr. Rick shared that there are two species of camels: one-humped camel and two-humped camel. Two-humped camels live in western China and central Asia, they have two humps on their backs; One-humped camels are the more common species and they only have a single hump. According to Mr. Rick's knowledge, camels have more than one hump, but they do not help them live longer in the state of no food.

He also mentioned a special thing that camels do not have humps at birth. They get the energy they need to grow from their mother, they start weaning at 4-6 months and don't grow humps until 10 months or 1 year old.

Because camels store fat inside their humps, they need another way to deal with the lack of water. They can drink 114 liters of water at one time, then they excrete dry feces to retain water, their kidneys can effectively remove toxins from the water to reuse the water, and they can also absorb water. moisture from the air through the breath.

Mr. Rick said camels have an amazing ability to handle water shortages, which is why we misunderstood that camels store water inside their humps.