Animal Diaries Archive

A Day In The Life Of A Camel

15 October 2004

Our two female Dromedary Camels, Teela and Dajarra, are very fortunate indeed. They live in the lap of luxury, getting three square meals a day, leisurely walks daily, and lots of pats and cuddles from our Zoo guests. Here's a list of what they get up to on an average day.

Catch the morning rays and chew their cud until their keepers arrive. (Usually around 7:00 A.M.)
Give morning kisses to their keeper, and then get haltered up. We do some camel exercises to enrich their body and mind. They either do some 'hooshes', which is lying down, or some conditioning work such as picking up their feet or target training.
Breakfast is next! Fresh-cut browse and some hay.
After that, Teela goes out for her walk, meets people and gets lots of attention! She loves this part of her day, nearly as much as meal times!
Time for our camel show! Then a yummy lunch of browse and camel pellets.
Once lunch is done, Dajarra goes out for her walk or ride.
Then it's time for bed. We put out more browse and give the camels a kiss goodnight.

Our guests can purchase camel food throughout the day, so the camels keep both eyes peeled for someone coming with their favourite treat of all. They are also very talkative; giving a friendly grumble to people they know when they walk past.

All in all, I would say our camel have got it made! Come and meet them and give them a treat – you really will make their day!