The Courier has teamed up with Blair Drummond Safari Park to offer readers the chance to win a family pass for two adults and two children each week - and learn a bit more about their residents at the same time.
On June 22, we celebrated World Camel Day. At Blair Drummond Safari Park, there are three Bactrian camels - two boys, Alba and Meldrum and one female, Doris.
The three camels can often be spotted roaming around in the Asian section of the safari drive through - you may even have experienced cheeky Meldrum causing traffic to come to standstill as he slowly makes his way across the road.
Bactrian camels differ from Dromedary camels in that they have two humps instead of one. An easy way to remember this is to picture the shapes these humps make.
A Bactrian camel has two humps which look like a capital B, a Dromedary camel has one hump which looks like a capital D.
Many people assume that the humps contain water, but this is not the case - the humps store fat which can then be converted into energy if required. Camels can actually survive for a surprisingly long time without drinking water, but when they do drink, they drink a lot. They can drink up to 35 gallons of water in one sitting!
Bactrian camels are designed to survive both in very hot and very cold temperatures. The temperature in their native habitat can vary from 40°C to -30°C in winter! In winter, they have thick woolly coats to keep them warm. They will then shed these coats as the weather turns warmer, and they can end up looking quite scruffy during this transition.
The leathery pads of their wide, flat feet help to stop them from sinking into sand or snow. They also have a third eyelid which can wipe away any snow, sand or dirt from their eyes.
Blair Drummond Safari Park is open seven days a week from 10am until 5.30pm Monday to Friday with 7pm closes on selected Saturdays and Sundays throughout July and August. Tickets can be booked online at blairdrummond.com.
For a chance to win a family pass, which can be used any one day during the park’s opening season this year, just answer the following question:
How much water can a camel drink at one time?
Send the coupon with your answer, name, address and contact number to: Safari Park Competition, West Lothian Courier, One Central Quay, Glasgow, G3 9DA.
The deadline is Wednesday at 4pm. Only original vouchers will be accepted.
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