Diet
The diet of the camel mostly consists of foliage, dry grasses and available desert vegetation, mostly thorny plants growing in its natural habitat. These compose 70% of their diet in summer and 90% in winter. In the Sahara 332 plant species have been recorded for the dromedary, including Artistida pungens, Acacia tortilis, Panicum turgidum, Launaea arborescens and Balanites aegyptiaca. Australian feral camels prefer Trichodesma zeylanicum and Euphorbia tannensis, while in India dromedaries are fed Vigna aconitifolia, V. mungo, Cyamopsis tetragonolaba, Melilotus parviflora, Eruca sativa, Brassica campestris and the Trifolium species. Highly preferred species include Santalum acuminatum, S. lanceolatum, Acacia sessiliceps, Pittosporum angustifolium, Erythrina vespertilio, and Lawrencia. The dromedary feeds on Acacia, Artiplex and Salsola plants whenever available.
They keep their mouth open while chewing thorny food. They use their lips to grasp the food, then chew each bite 40-50 times. Features like long eyelashes, eyebrows, lockable nostrils, caudal opening of the prepuce and a relatively small vulva help the camel avoid injuries, especially while feeding. A study of the dromedary's diet, done in eastern Ethiopia, found that camels spent most of the day grazing. The young camels generally grazed more than adults who mainly rested or engaged in other activities, especially in the wet season. Overall, grazing was increased in the dry season while other activities prevailed in the wet season. Observations of their foraging behavior showed that Opuntia plants were the most preferred plants in the dry season and Acacia brevispica in the wet.
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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