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camels, Tibet and Kalif, are Bactrian camels.
The name "Bactrian" comes from an ancient
region in Asia called Baktria.
Bactrian camels have two humps. They live on
the Tibetan Plateau in Central Asia, where the
temperature rises to 140 degrees Fahrenheit in
the summer and drops to arctic cold in the winter.
They are beasts of burden and can carry loads
of 700 pounds or pull loads as great as 1,000
pounds. Bactrian camels travel about 2.5 miles
per hour, covering as many as 29 miles in a day.
Where do Camels Come From?
Camels evolved in North America some 40 million
years ago. At that time, many species of camel
thrived in what is now the western United States,
including Nebraska. Two million years ago some
camel species migrated into South America, where
their descendants became the vicuna, guanaco,
llama and alpaca. Other camel species went west
over the Bering land mass and entered Asia. The
Dromedary and Bactrian camels are their descendants.
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