Why Does the Camel Have a Hump?
Why Does the Camel Have a Hump? The camel’s best known feature is the hump on its back. The camel’s hump is mostly fat that provides nourishment when food is hard to find. Fat is commonly used by animals as a way to store energy.
So the hump can be thought of as the camel’s energy reserve. When a camel goes a long time without food, its hump shrinks. After it has eaten and rested, its hump becomes plump and firm again.
People once believed that a camel stores water in its hump. The hump does not contain water and does not play an important part in the camel’s special ability to survive for long periods, even weeks, without drinking water.
Now we know that a camel simply conserves its body moisture, rather than storing an extra water supply. It can travel for days without food or water because of its fatty hump and its efficient water conservation.