12 May 2017
Just in time for Love Your Zoo Week, Hobbledown welcomes its first camels to the fold.
The camels are a father and son pairing of Bactrian Camels named Genghis, aged 6, and Kados, 1. For company they will be housed with the nilgai in their large compound just past Hobbledown Village.
Their most noticeable feature is that they have two humps rather than the single hump of their Arabian relatives.
Hobbledown Curator Angela Lambert said: “They are a welcome addition to our ever growing collection, and will undoubtedly be a favourite with our guests.”
Camels are ungulates, meaning hoofed animals. Bactrian camels are even-toed ungulates and place their weight on their third and fourth toes. They can grow huge, sometimes reaching 12ft high.
According to National Geographic, the only truly wild camels that still exist are Bactrian camels. The herds survive in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia and China.
