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Do camels store water in their humps?

The short answer

No. A camel's hump is mostly fat, which the camel uses when food is hard to find.

Fact-checked Checked against 6 sources
Watch it in about a minute, here or on YouTube

A camel's hump is not a water tank. Here is what is really inside and how camels survive the desert.

What is in the hump?

The hump is mostly fat, saved for times when food is hard to find. When a camel goes hungry, it uses that fat and the hump shrinks and sags. Keeping fat in one spot also helps the rest of the body lose heat.

Illustration from the video: What is in the hump?

So how do they save water?

Camels rarely sweat, and their poop is so dry it can be used to start a fire. Their noses even catch water from every breath they breathe out. When they find water, they can gulp over 100 liters in minutes to refill their whole body. Camel blood cells are oval, and they can swell with water without bursting.

Illustration from the video: So how do they save water?

Sources

  1. Live Science: Do camels really have water in their humps?
  2. Natural History Museum: How do camels survive in deserts?
  3. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Library: Camels: Characteristics
  4. National Geographic: Arabian Camel
  5. AskNature: Blood cells protect from dehydration
  6. Kufa Journal of Veterinary Sciences: Osmotic fragility of camel erythrocytes

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