Truth or Tail: A camel's hump| Cleveland Zoological Society

Truth or tail? A camel's hump stores fat, not water.

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TRUTH!

It's true that camels can last days without food or water, but it’s not because they’ve got water stored in their humps. Camel humps actually store rich fat, which allows them to go long periods of time without eating or drinking because their body converts the stored fat into needed energy. They can store up to 80 pounds of fat in one hump, and the size of the hump changes depending on how much food the camel eats. Once a camel does have access to water, they can drink as much as 30 gallons of water in 10 minutes!

Did you know? Depending on the type of camel, there are one or two humps? Dromedary camels have one hump. Bactrian camels have two humps.

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Truth or Tail: A camel's hump

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