Camel Cousins

But wait! Before you pick your escape camel, you should know there are different types within the camel kind. When God designed the camel kind, he gave them the genetic information to have great variation. The camels you know and love have cousins around the world. After the flood of Noah’s day, God commanded all the animal kinds to fill the earth (Genesis 8:17). The camel kind did just that. Today camels are born in the wild and live in Africa, Asia, and South America.

Old World Camels (Africa and Asia)

Dromedary (Arabian): These camels have one hump, like the letter D, and shorter hair.

Bactrian: These camels have two humps, like a sideways letter B, and longer hair.

New World Camels (South America)

Llamas: Llamas are all domesticated (owned by people). They’ve carried loads for many years.

Guanacos: Guanacos are wild llamas—and they’re really wild! They can live in South American places that haven’t seen rain in years.

Alpacas: Alpacas are domesticated and smaller than llamas. But they also have great fleece that people use to make clothes.

Vicuñas: Vicuñas are basically wild alpacas that thrive in some harsh places in the Andes Mountains.

Mixed Up?

Different types of camels can have babies together. Llamas and alpacas can have llapacas, and Arabian and Bactrian camels have dromels. What’s really neat? Scientists recently bred camels and llamas together to produce camas. They hope to produce a less grumpy animal that will thrive in the desert.