Camels: Debunking the Myth
Camels are some of the strangest creatures on Earth. As a pack animal nothing can beat them. They're resilent, strong and remarkably adaptable. But whereas a horses may choose to work in a team, a camel alone will rarely do so.
Experts and common perception tell us that camels are stupid, stubbon and selfish. I will tell you now that they are wrong - to an extent. Camels are amongst the most adaptable creatures on Earth and their perception is a matter of opposites.
The camels in our caravan are Bacterian camels, with two humps and a shaggy rug of hair draped over them. They're slightly smaller than their Dromedary cousin (with only one hump), but extremely more adaptable.
Physically:
Camels look awkward. Long neck, ungainly legs with a pin-on tail. In reality if you watch them move, they have a grace, ruthlessly designed to conserve energy for the longest periods. A Bacterian camel can shed its hair in a week and grow it back in a month. They can survive both the searing hot Gobi summer and freezing Taklamakan winter. In such a hostile place, few other animals are as capable.
Food and Water:
Camels are the goats of the desert for they eat everything and anything in sight, digestible or otherwise, and can fill their stomachs within an hour. Amidst the expanses of the Northern Chinese desert, few things are man-made, and of what living things exist, the non-moving ones are most likely edible.
On our trip, our camels favourite food are the common thistle (known locally as 'Khu Kha'), but they've been known to munch through boxes, plastic sheeting, stray shoes, and any bag I was stupid enough to leave open. They can survive six days without water, though usually drink once every two days, depending upon the distance covered and load carried.
Tenacity:
For any animal, its instinct is to survive and given the conditions of the Gobi, it's often a camel's only thought. A large Bacterian can shifty up to 300kgs over short stretches and 100-150kgs on a long haul. Yet stop for a second at the end of the day and most camels will try to roll, usually with all one's expensive bags still roped on!
As you may have heard, once down a camel doesn't like to get up, and persuading the brute otherwise, is a cause for endless hair pulling on your part and prodding with sticks. Yet think of it like this. Your caravan depends upon the well-being and fitness of your pack animals and whereas a horse can be persuaded more easily to continue, a horse certainly wouldn't survive half as long in the open desert. Like any creature, camels only cause trouble when they're tired and like horses their are always good ones and bad ones.
Obedience:
Now of everything you've ever learnt or heard about camels, why on earth would they be obedient? Well, let me ask you this. Ever tried shoeing a horse, giving it an injection or shoving a thermometer up its bottom? Your're certainly likely to come to more harm than when aiding a camel in distress - or at least in my experience. Surprisingly, camels are remarkably placid when it comes to being tied down or roped to the nearest tree whether to treat a wound or mend a pad. Loading can be endlessly frustrating when they try to rise, but they rarely try to bite or kick. Spitting is disgusting, but it beats a shattered leg bone after being kicked by a disgruntled horse.
Demeanour:
If you respect a living being, the living being will respect you. Now let's place you with a Silk Road caravan for a moment. The caravan is behind time, and your wage depends on its timely arrival. The camels are overloaded and almost worn out. How would you feel? I would argue that eighty percent of a camel's bad temper can be attributed to its owner or former treatment. Treat it well, move slow around it and feed it often and camels are surpisingly placid creatures. Unfortunately, millennia spent grubbing it out amongst the world's deserts have undoubtedly made camels easily provoked, often selfish and definitely suspicious. That part is certainly true. After a steep learning curve, I can assure you that camels don't simply spit all over you, they shower you with their latest meal when threatened. It's absolutely disgusting. They rarely kick unless really provoked and I've yet to see one bite anyone.
Perception over-ruled
Are they stubbon? Yes when you yank, pull or force them along too quickly - or perhaps if they're simply having a bad hair day. Survival is a camel's number one thought and slow and far is better than fast and dead.
Are they mean? Camels are actually quite quiet creatures once they trust you and usually don't react if approached properly. They're certainly suspicious, as their history with humankind can testify to, so as I said early, it's more likely how well you treat a camel, as to how 'mean' it is.
Are they stupid? What is intelligence? Is it the ability to surive or is it the ability to reason and learn? I'd argue with camels it's a heavy mix of both. Bacterians aren't inherently stupid, but they aren't overly bright either. Horses pause more, learn quicker what's expected and adapt more to their rider. Camels act more on impulse and have their own interests much stronger at heart. They do have their character traits but of the three animals in our caravan only the slightly aristrocratic Brutas shows some sign of machinerary turning behind his calm brown eyes.
Final Word
After several months of living with my shaggy friends, it's difficult to say at this point how switched on camels are. They're more easily led than horses and possibly react less understandably. But it's still early days. Our caravan moves as one, not individually and the greatest challenges of the desert still lie far ahead.
