Baby camel

Coolgardie — 1999-09-15

Tom, Tanja and I set out in the evening to look for a pregnant camel a short time off delivery. Tom says it’s a perfect stormy night for a birth. Eyes wide open we ride through the thick vegetation of the bush. Suddenly Tom points in a certain direction and sure enough, we discover the female camel. Tom parks the four-wheel and carefully we creep up near her. What a pleasant surprise to lay eyes on a small camel male who is just a few hours old. He is still pretty gawky on his long skinny legs, but he makes a healthy impression. He looks about with curiosity and meets us with the sort of basic confidence that only new-born babies have. Tom says hello to mother camel and gives her some hay which after the strain of giving birth she ravenously gulps down. Normally camel mommies are extremely dangerous and don’t allow any human being to come close. However Tom with a smile of satisfaction remarks that trained animals do behave quietly as a rule. Answering our question why she selected this particular night to give birth, he explains: „Pregnant camels often choose a rough night like this to deliver their babies. It is cool, there are hardly any flies or mosquitoes. Besides, life meets them with such a hardness that they are wide awake and immediately try to be up and about. Camels born on a hot day normally have a hard time to go out into the world.