The Bactrian camel population at Potter Park Zoo in Lansing increased from two to three on April 29 with the birth of a two-humped baby.
The nearly month-old Bactrian camel is covered with a fuzzy fur coat and has two humps, a feature that differentiates it from the one-humped Dromedary camel.
"In the wild, there's not that many," zoo veterinarian Tara Harrison said. "A lot of people have come out to see it since she was born."
The Bactrian camel is native to Central Asia, China and Mongolia. Unlike the desert Dromedary camel, the Bactrian camel is used to cooler climates. The camels at Potter Park Zoo stay outdoors year-round, although they have a heated barn if they want it, Harrison said.
The camels can grow to be more than 7 feet tall and weigh more than 2,000 pounds, according to the Alaska Zoo Web site.
Fewer than 1,000 Bactrian camels remain in the wild, making it an endangered species.
The number of wild Bactrian camels has decreased because of human development in its natural environment, hunting, breeding with domestic camels and competition with other grazing animals for food.
Harrison said the female baby camel was born at about 7:30 p.m., after she left for the night.
"For the most part, the animals do their thing; the only way we intervene is if there are complications," she said.
Mark Marquardt, the camel's zookeeper, was out of town the night the baby was born, so co-workers called to give him the news.
"We knew it was coming, we just didn't know what day," Marquardt said.
Harrison said the baby camel was born weighing about 100 pounds and is healthy.
"She was born in a good time of year," she said.
Curious onlookers, some pushing strollers and others with cameras hanging from their necks, stopped to observe the animals, on Monday. The baby camel bounced over to her mother and buried her nose into her mother's side.
"Look at all that hair, my word," Eileen Owens said when she saw the camels. Owens traveled to Lansing from Colorado to see her daughter, and the two decided to spend the afternoon at the zoo.
The two adult camels were shedding tufts of fur that hung in long strands off parts of their backs and legs. By mid-summer, they will have lost all their long hair and have a smooth coat, Harrison said.
With his finger in his mouth, 6-year-old Drew Taylor stared at the camel.
"The baby doesn't have very big humps," he said.
Taylor, with his parents and two brothers, made the trip from Portland, Mich., to see the animals at the zoo.
The humps are stores of fat, according to information from the zoo. When the camel's body needs nourishment, it draws from the fat supply in the humps, and when they are depleted, they fall to the side.
A Bactrian camel can live up to nine days without water and can drink up to 30 gallons in 10 minutes when thirsty.
"We read about it in the paper," said Mary Rathbun, who was spending her birthday at the zoo with friends. "It's even cuter than we thought."
