The Germans call dull-witted people Kamels, perhaps reflecting the opinion of certain early naturalists such as the German naturalist, Brehm, who described the camel as “unbelievably stupid looking.”
The most widely known of the two species is probably the one-humped camel, or dromedary, which is today known only as a domestic animal. The two-humped camel still exists in a wild state in the Gobi Desert where it is protected by law, and in nearby areas of China. Wild camels exist in conditions where the temperatures may vary from 50 degrees centigrade in summer to 25 degrees or more below freezing. Habitat loss continues to threaten the bactrian camel; blocking access to only one watering hole in the species’ range would adversely effect populations over a wide area.

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