the law of survival

Survival of the fittest, survival of the fittest . This sentence has always been the only law of survival in nature. Carnivores evolved fangs and claws in order to survive. In order to avoid predators, herbivores have also evolved protective colors and strong limbs.

But even so, many half-ton buffaloes are killed by lions every year. There is a saying that, carnivores will starve to death if they can’t catch up with their prey . As for herbivores, just consider the slowest one in the group.

Ferocious carnivores are at the top of the food chain at all times . Even a five-ton African elephant is always at risk of being killed by a pack of starving lions.

Many animals have their own natural enemies, and the food chain is thus interlinked and maintains a unique balance.

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But have you noticed? We don't seem to see a camel being hunted on TV. Why, don't camels have natural enemies?

The camel, an animal, seems to only appear in the scenes when people walk in the desert in the TV series.

The camel we often say is actually a genus of the Camelidae under the order Artiodactyla . Everyone knows the genus and species of Jiemenganga, and camel is a special genus, and there are only two species of dromedary and two-humped camel at the lower level.

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Dromedaries are generally 2.2 to 3.4 meters long, 1.8 to 2.1 meters tall, and weigh 450-600 kilograms . Bactrian camels are slightly shorter at shoulder height of 1.6 to 1.8 meters, but heavier, about 450 to 680 kilograms . The key point is to remember that this set of data is almost net height , and people still carry such a big hump on their backs.

People say "a dead skinny camel is bigger than a horse" . From this point of view, with such a large grid, the average carnivore will not be moved by it. However, some people can't help but have a question when they see this.

camel's weapon

Such a large African elephant cannot escape the poisonous mouth of carnivores. No matter how strong a camel is, it is impossible to have no natural enemies, right?

Yes, the African elephant is the largest animal on land today. Adult African elephants can be 5 to 7 meters tall and weigh 2 to 7 tons . The largest African elephant ever found weighs 13.5 tons .

Although large in size, African elephants are not puffy. African elephants have strong tendons, and the trunk alone has more than 100,000 muscles to support them. Also, female elephants, like male elephants, have tusks that can easily rip bark off tree trunks.

Of course, African elephants in normal conditions are definitely not afraid of predators such as lions and hyenas. However, Africa has a rainy season and a dry season. In the dry season, water resources on the grasslands are scarce. Elephants are very dependent on water, ingesting about 100 liters of water a day . In the dry season, there is still so much water.

At this time, the elephant will become very weak, and the predators will look at the target and attack.

So, a strong African elephant is preyed on and its size has nothing to do with it. On the contrary, camels do not need to consider the problem of water shortage at all.

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Unlike other herbivores, camels can be said to be born with the ability to survive in the Gobi desert. The fat stored in the huge hump can keep the camel from eating for days and nights .

By the way, it is true that camels are resistant to thirst, and everyone knows it, but the reason is not what some popular science bloggers say, what is converted from fat to water, and what is stored in the hump is water, etc. of.

Camels are resistant to thirst because of their high utilization of water resources in the body . What do you mean? That is to say, the camels can almost squeeze the water out of the forage and plants, and even the excrement is the same as the air-dried one. Some herdsmen even burn the camel's poop.

I believe that some friends still don’t understand when they see this. We also know that the camel’s survival ability is very strong, but we just don’t understand why it has no natural enemies.

camel's predator

Do camels really have no natural enemies? I believe that some people will think so. Camels live in such a harsh environment , and it is not easy to survive. How can there be natural enemies?

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Thinking too much, even in the endless desert, camels have natural enemies. That's right, the camel's natural enemy is one and only wolves.

Whenever a wolf and a camel meet, the wolf will eagerly attack. Because they know that the stamina of camels is very good . Once they accidentally chase into the depths of the desert, even if they successfully subdue their prey, they will fall into the long yellow sand.

In 1999 , a scientist discovered that three or four wolves were besieging a wild camel when they visited Altun Mountain . However, now the wolf would rather linger in the barren mountains and old forest than touch this difficult prey. why?

A large amount of fat is stored in the camel's hump. While the camel is alive, these fats shrink continuously as the camel metabolizes . But once the camel dies, these fats cannot perform aerobic exercise. The camel's body will gradually swell due to the fermentation of microorganisms, and a large amount of methane gas will continue to accumulate in the body .

Imagine if you opened a mouth to the camel's body at this time, tsk tsk tsk, the consequences would be disastrous.

Therefore, camels are not without natural enemies, and even African elephants are besieged by lions. It's not that no animals dare to eat it, but that none of these carnivores want to touch it.

Originally, the camel was very large. It took a lot of effort to catch the camel and was about to eat it. As a result, with a loud noise, it was collapsed by those unknown liquids. Although tigers, leopards and jackals are ferocious, they are not stupid. They have a long memory after suffering two losses, and they will not go to the trouble of camels unless they have to.

It is because of this that camels in some areas flooded from time to time , crowding out the survival resources of other animals. As a last resort, we can only artificially control the number of camels . Therefore, the biggest natural enemy of camels is not others, but themselves.