HOW THE CAMEL GOT HIS HUMP
BY
RUDYARD KIPLING
ABOUT THE WRITER

Rudyard Kipling was born on December 30, 1865 in Bombay, India. He was educated
in England but returned to India in 1882. In 1892, Kipling married Caroline Balestier
and settled in Brattleboro, Vermont where he wrote The Jungle Book and "Gunga
Din." Eventually becoming the highest paid writer in the world, Kipling was recipient
of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907. He died in 1936.
DESERT ANIMALS

Deserts cover about one fifth (20 percent) of the earth's land area. The
desert is a harsh environment with very little rainfall and extreme
temperatures; a desert is defined as a region that gets less than ten inches
of precipitation per year. Because of these dry conditions, there is limited
plant and animal life in deserts. Desert plants (like cacti) are not abundant;
neither is animal life.

Some deserts get both very hot (during the day) and very cold (during the
night, when temperatures can drop well below freezing). Some deserts,
however, are always cold (for example, the Gobi Desert in Asia, and the
desert on the continent of Antarctica).

Different animals live in the different types of deserts. Animals that live in
the desert have adaptations to cope with the lack of water, the extreme
temperatures, and the shortage of food. To avoid daytime heat, many
desert animals are nocturnal; they burrow beneath the surface or hide in
the shade during the day, emerging at night to eat. Many desert animals do
not have to drink at all; they get all the water they need from their food.
Most desert animals are small.
WATCH A VIDEO ON DESERT ANIMALS AND
THEIR CHARACTERISTICS FEATURES
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s
cAt0hasIg
CAMELS
A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty
deposits known as "humps" on its back. The two surviving species of camel are the
dromedary, or one-humped camel, which is native to the Middle East and the Horn of
Africa; and the Bactrian, or two-humped camel, which inhabits Central Asia. Both
species have been domesticated; they provide milk, meat, hair for textiles or goods
such as felted pouches, and are working animals.
DROMEDARY CAMEL
BACTRIAN CAMEL
WATCH A VIDEO ON CAMELS
http://video.nationalgeographic.co.in/video/anim
als/mammals-animals/zebras-horsescamels/camel_dromedary_tunisia/
DROMEDARY CAMELS
The dromedary (pronounced /ˈdrɑmədɛɹi/ or
/ˈdrɒmədri/) or Arabian camel (Camelus dromedarius)
is a large, even-toed ungulate with one hump on its
back. First described by Aristotle of Stagira, the
dromedary was given its binomial name by Carl
Linnaeus in 1758. The dromedary is the next largest
member of the camel family after the Bactrian camel.
The oldest known ancestor of the dromedary is the
Protylopus. Males are 1.8–2 m (5.9–6.6 ft) tall and
females 1.7–1.9 m (5.6–6.2 ft) tall. Males range from
400–600 kg (880–1,300 lb), while females weigh 300–
540 kg (660–1,200 lb). They vary in colour from a light
caramel to black. The notable hump, measuring 20 cm
(7.9 in), is fat bound together by fibrous tissue.
Its diet includes foliage and desert vegetation, like
thorny plants, and eats Acacia, Atriplex and Salsola
species whenever available. The camels are active in
the day, and rest together in groups. Led by a
dominant male, each herd consists of about 20
individuals.
BACTRIAN CAMELS
The Bactrian camel is the largest mammal in its native range and
rivals the Dromedary as the largest living camel. Shoulder height
is from 180 to 230 cm (5.9 to 7.5 ft), head-and-body length is
225–350 cm (7.38–11.5 ft) and the tail length is 35–55 cm (14–
22 in). At the top of the humps, the average height is 213 cm
(6.99 ft). Body mass can range from 300 to 1,000 kg (660 to 2,200
lb), with males often being much larger and heavier than
females.[11] Its long, wooly coat varies in colour from dark brown
to sandy beige. There is a mane and beard of long hair on the
neck and throat, with hairs measuring up to 25 cm (9.8 in) long.
The shaggy winter coat is shed extremely rapidly, with huge
sections peeling off at once, appearing as if sloppily shorn off.
There are two humps on the back, which are composed of fat
(not water as is sometimes thought). The face is typical of a
camelid, being long and somewhat triangular, with a split upper
lip. There are long eyelashes, which, along with the sealable
nostrils, help to keep out dust in the frequent sandstorms which
occur in their natural range. The two broad toes on each foot
have undivided soles and are able to spread widely as an
adaptation to walking on sand. The feet are very tough, as befits
an animal of extreme environments.
WATCH AN AUDIO-VIDEO PRESENTATION OF THE STORY
HOW THE CAMEL GOT HIS HUMP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi
KHUrFFEUU
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Answer the questions in short
1.What did the man ask the three animals to do at the end of the
day?
2.Why were the animals angry and what did they do?
3.What were the complaints of the three animals against the
camel?
4.What was the camel doing all day long?
5.How did the Djinn punish the camel?
6.According to the Djinn what was the use of the hump?
7.Did the camel change after the punishment?
Acknowledgement
NCERT text class VIII
National Geographic website
Youtube
Wikipedia