This document summarizes the digestive system of camels. It begins by providing background on the author, Abdirashid Ahmed Hussein, and his education. The document then discusses the general appearance and types of camels. It provides details on the feeding behavior and diet of camels, describing how they can eat tough plants. The majority of the document focuses on describing the digestive system of camels, including the mouth, pharynx, esophagus, and stomach. It notes that camels have a three-chambered stomach unlike the four chambers of other ruminants.

1. Ankara University
Abdirashid Ahmed Hussein
BSc IN Veterinary science department of animal
husbandry in university of Somalia (Uniso).
MSc In Animal science department Animal nutrition
at Ankara university.
Email: abwaanrashka39@gmail.com
Faculty of Agriculture Department Animal Science

2. outline
 General Appearance of Camel
 Types of camel
 Feeding behavior of camel
 digestive systems of camels
- Mouth
- Pharynx and esophagus
- Stomach
- Intestines
 Difference between camel and true
ruminant digestive system

3. General Appearance of Camel
 Camels have one hump in Africa while also have two
humps in the Arab area
 They are 10 feet long including head
 They are 6-7 feet tall at the shoulder
 They weigh 1000-1050 pounds
 They are bigger than a horse
 As a female can live up to 30 years, she can
produce about 8 calves in a life-time (Yasin and
Wahid, 1957).

4. Types of camel
Dromedarian camel
Camelus dromedarius
Bactrian camel
Camelus bactrianus

5. Feeding behavior and feed
type of camel
 Camels can eat hard and thorny plants which
can not be eaten by other animals.
 Camels are like goats and can browse, eating
bushes and the branches of trees.
 The camel browses or grazes for 8 hours each
day and will take another 6 to 8 hours to chew
the cud.
 Camels can reach branches of trees and
bushes to a height of 3 meters.
 The camel eats these woody plants by using
its strong canine (dog) teeth to crush the
wood.

6. Feeding behavior and feed type of camel
 In dry seasons when feed becomes
scarce the camel can live off the fat which
is stored in the hump.
 It can survive in this way for a very long
period and will lose weight as the fat is
used.
 A camel can lose up to 200 kg in weight
during this period.
 Herbivores use odor and taste to detect
and avoid toxic plants. Thus, they are
attracted to sweet flavors and repelled by
bitter flavors.
 Camels recognize poisonous plants
growing in the area and will not eat them.
 However if the camel is moved to a new
area where different poisonous plants are
found then it may eat those plants.

7. digestive systems of camels
 The digestive systems of camels are different from cattle and
sheep, in contrast to the four-chambered stomach of most true
ruminants, the Bactrian camel stomachs have only three
chambers with no omasum.

10. mouth
 The mouth is the first part of the alimentary canal. It
is bounded laterally by cheeks, dorsally by the hard
palate, ventrally by the body of the mandible, and
behind by the soft palate
 Camels have a prehensile and split upper lip which is
used for selectively grasping plant parts.
 The lower lip is large and pendulous, and The upper
dental pad is hard and horn-like in texture.
 The membrane of the inner cheek is covered with
conical papillae which point backward.
 The hard palate is long and the soft palate
(<«<dula'a») is extensible and is often protruded from
the mouth, particularly in the rutting male.

11. mouth
 The tongue is small but very mobile and has
five to seven papillae of large diameter along
each side.
 Dentition differs from that of true ruminants
in that there are incisors in the upper jaw and
both upper and lower jaws have canine teeth
(«<tushes»). The salivary glands are similar to
those of other ruminating animals.
Function of mouth
 Chewing (with the help of teeth) and
lubrication of feed

12. Pharynx and esophagus
The pharynx is a long and
narrow tube whit a constriction
partly dividing it into two
chambers.
The esophagus is 1-2 m long
and of large capacity: it has
secreting glands which
apparently function to
moisturize food.

13. stomach
 Dromedary camel stomach. C1 Cr: Cranial part of first gastric compartment; C1 Cd: Caudal part of first gastric
compartment; C2: Second gastric compartment C2; C3A and C3B: Proximal and distal parts of third gastric
compartment C3; O: Ostium cardiacum; Double arrow: Position of the orifice between C1 and C2; Arrow: Position
of the orifice between C2 and C3A. B. Alpaca gastrointestinal tract showing external position of orifices of C2 and
peritoneal folds that delimited C2. C1 Cr: Cranial part of first gastric compartment; C1 Cd: Caudal part of first
gastric compartment; C2: Second gastric compartment C2; C3A and C3B: Proximal and distal parts of third gastric
compartment C3; Triangle: Position of the orifice between C1 and C2; * Position of the orifice between C2 and
C3A; P1: Peritoneal fold between C1caudal and C2; P2: Peritoneal fold between C2 and C3A. C. Internal view of
the dromedary stomach after dorsal incision. C1: First gastric compartment; C2: Second gastric compartment; C3A
and C3B: Proximal and distal parts of third gastric compartment C3; TP: Torus pyloricus; AD: Ampulla duodeni; D:
Duodenum; Arrows; Gastric groove. Scale bar = 10 cm.

14. Stomach

17. The accessory organs

18. The accessory organs

24. End. ……………