camel

A camel is an even-toed ungulate [有蹄动物] within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. The three surviving species of camel are:

• The dromedary, or one-humped camel, which inhabits the Middle East and the Horn of Africa;
• The Bactrian, or two-humped camel, which inhabits Central Asia;
• The critically endangered wild Bactrian camel that has limited populations in remote areas of northwest China and Mongolia.

Additionally one other species of camel in the separate genus Camelops lived in western North America and became extinct when humans entered the continent at the end of the Pleistocene. Both the dromedary and the Bactrian camels have been domesticated; they provide milk, meat, hair for textiles or goods such as felted pouches, and are working animals with tasks ranging from human transport to bearing loads.

Pleistocene [更新世, pleistos 'most' + kainos 'recent'], started about two million years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago, when much of the Earth was covered with ice.

The average life expectancy of a camel is 40 to 50 years. A full-grown adult camel stands 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) at the shoulder and 2.15 m (7 ft 1 in) at the hump. Camels can run at up to 65 km/h (40 mph) in short bursts and sustain speeds of up to 40 km/h (25 mph). Bactrian camels weigh 300 to 1,000 kg (660 to 2,200 lb) and dromedaries 300 to 600 kg (660 to 1,320 lb). The average speed for the one humped camel is about 40 km/hour while the two humped camel has around 27.2 km/hour. The widening toes on a camel's hoof provide supplemental grip for varying soil sediments.

Camel milk is a staple food of desert nomad tribes and is sometimes considered a meal in and of itself; a nomad can live on only camel milk for almost a month. Camel milk is rich in vitamins, minerals, proteins, and immunoglobulins [免疫球蛋白]; compared to cow's milk, it is lower in fat and lactose, and higher in potassium [钾], iron, and vitamin C.

Camel milk can readily be made into a drinkable yogurt, as well as butter or cheese, though the yields for cheese tend to be low. Camel milk cannot be made into butter by the traditional churning method. It can be made if it is soured first, churned, and a clarifying agent is then added. Until recently, camel milk could not be made into camel cheese because rennet was unable to coagulate the milk proteins to allow the collection of curds. A FAO commissioned professor was able to produce curdling by the addition of calcium phosphate [磷酸] and vegetable rennet.The cheese produced from this process has low levels of cholesterol and is easy to digest, even for the lactose intolerant.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, fiat panis, translates to "let there be bread". It was founded in October 1945.

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