Why do camels have humps?

Is a camel's hump full of water? Not at all!

Picture a camel plodding through a hot, empty desert, with no food or water for days.

Here is a real two-humped camel, called a Bactrian camel, from the cold, dry steppes of Central Asia.

Its cousin, the dromedary, has just one hump. So some camels have one, and some have two.

• Bactrian = 2 humps

So what is inside a hump? Not water. It is mostly fat, a bit like a backpack of snacks.

• Hump = stored fat

When food runs out, the camel's body slowly uses that fat for energy, and the hump gets floppy.

Think of a balloon slowly losing air. The hump shrinks, and it can flop over, until the camel eats again.

Why keep fat in one lump? Fat all over the body would trap heat, and a desert is already hot.

With fat stored on the back, the rest of the body can lose heat easily and stay cooler.

Camels also drink huge amounts at once, and they cope very well with cold, drought and high places.

Because of this toughness, Bactrian camels carried people and goods along the famous Silk Road for thousands of years.

Let us check what you learned about the hump.

Here is a quick question for you. So, a camel's hump is a fat store, not a water tank, and it helps the camel survive hard times.

• Hump = fat for energy