How much water does a camel's hump hold?

    None.

A camel's hump does not hold water at all - it actually stores fat. The camel uses it as nourishment when food is scarce. If a camel uses the fat inside the hump, the hump will become limp and droop down. With proper food and rest the hump will return to normal.

The hump is not used for water storage, but camels can go for long periods of time without water. They drink large amounts of water - up to 20 gallons at a time. This water is stored in the animal's bloodstream.

Related Web Sites

The A-Z of Camels - This Web site is sponsored by ArabNet. It provides an A - Z fact sheet of the camel. Camels: Of Service and Survival by Susan Lumpkin - This article appeared in the September/October 1999 issue of Zoogoer.

Further Reading

Arnold, Caroline. Camel. New York, Morrow Junior Books, 1992.48 p. (Juvenile). Camels. In Magill's encyclopedia of science: animal life. Carl W. Hoagstrom, ed. Pasadena, CA Salem Press, 2002. v. 1, p. 156-158. Gauthier-Pilters, Hilde and Anne Innis Dagg. The camel, its evolution, ecology, behavior, and relationship to man. Chicago, University Press, 1981. 208 p. Market, Jenny. Camels. Mankato, MN, Child's World, c.1991. 1 v. (unpaged).

For more print resources...
Search on "camel" or "dromedary" in the Library of Congress Online Catalog.

[Camels halting in the desert, Holy Land]. Detroit Publishing Company, [between ca. 1890 and ca. 1900]. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

Animal locomotion: [Twenty consecutive images of a camel running]. Eadweard Muybridge, photographer. c1887. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

Animals. Camel (side view). Theodor Horydczak, photographer, ca 1920-50. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

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