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 and powerful limbs.

However, even so, many buffalo weighing half a ton are killed by lions every year. There is a saying that if a carnivore cannot catch up with its prey, it will starve to death . As for a herbivore, just consider not being the slowest one in the population.

Ferocious carnivores are at the upper level of the food chain no matter what time they are . Even a 5-ton African elephant is at constant risk of being mauled to death by a pack of hungry lions.

Many animals have their own natural enemies, and the food chain is like this, maintaining a unique balance.

But have you noticed that we never seem to see camels being chased on TV. Why, don't camels have natural enemies?

Camels seem to only appear in the scenes of people walking in the desert in TV dramas.

The camel we often talk about is actually a genus of Camelidae under the order Artiodactyla. We all know the genus and species of the family of Semenidae, but camel is a special genus, and there are only two species of dromedary and Bactrian camel at the lower level.

The picture material comes from the Internet

Dromedary camels generally have a body length of 2.2 to 3.4 meters, a height of 1.8 to 2.1 meters, and a weight of 450-600 kilograms . Bactrian camels are slightly shorter, with a shoulder height of 1.6 to 1.8 meters, but a heavier weight, about 450 to 680 kg . The key point, everyone, remember that this set of data is almost net height , and people still have such a big hump on their backs.

People say "a skinny camel is bigger than a horse" . Judging from this, with such a large grid, ordinary carnivores will not think much about it after seeing it. However, some people can't help but have a question when they see this.

camel arms

African elephants of that size cannot escape the poison of carnivores. No matter how strong a camel is, it is impossible for it to be without a natural enemy, right?

Yes, the African elephant is the largest animal on land today. Adult African elephants can reach a height of 5 to 7 meters and a weight of 2 to 7 tons . At present, the largest African elephant found weighs 13.5 tons .

Although they are large in size, African elephants are not puffy. African elephants have strong tendons, and the trunk alone is supported by more than 100,000 muscles. Moreover, female elephants have tusks like male elephants, which can easily peel the bark off the trunk.

Of course, an African elephant in a normal state is 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 sources on the grasslands are scarce. Elephants are very dependent on water, taking in about 100 liters of water a day . How can there be so much water in the dry season?

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

Therefore, the predation of a strong African elephant has nothing to do with its size. In contrast, camels don't have to worry about water shortages at all.

Camels are different from other herbivores, and the ability to survive in the Gobi desert can be said to be innate. 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 as some popular science bloggers said, what is converted from fat to water, what is stored in the hump is water, etc. of.

The camel's resistance to thirst is due to its high utilization rate of water resources in the body . What do you mean? That is to say, camels can almost squeeze out the water of forage and plants, and even the excrement they excrete is the same as that of air-dried ones. Some herdsmen even use the camel's excrement to burn.

I believe that some friends still don’t understand after seeing this place. We also know that camels have strong survival ability, but we just don’t understand why they have no natural enemies.

predators of camels

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

If you think about it too much, even in the endless desert, camels have natural enemies. That's right, there are and only wolves are the natural enemies of camels.

Whenever a wolf and a camel meet, the wolf is eager to attack. Because they know that camels have good stamina . 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 , some scientists found three or four wolves besieging a wild camel during their investigation in Altun Mountain . However, the current wolves would rather linger in the barren mountains and old forests than touch this difficult prey. why?

A lot of fat is stored in a camel's hump. While the camel is alive, these fats will continue to shrink as the camel metabolizes . But once the camel dies, the fat will not be able to carry out aerobic exercise. The body of the camel 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 for 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 sometimes besieged by lions. It's not that no animals dare to eat it, but these carnivores don't want to touch it.

The camel was originally big, and it took a lot of effort to catch the camel and was about to eat it, but with a loud noise, it was collapsed by those unknown liquids. Although tigers, leopards and wolves are ferocious, they are not stupid. After suffering two losses, they will have a long memory, and they will not go to trouble with camels unless it is absolutely necessary.

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