Miami Welcomes Adorable Baby Camel With 2 Humps: PHOTOS

MIAMI, FL — Zoo Miami welcomed an adorable baby camel over the weekend with not one hump but two. That's because the baby is an endangered Bactrian camel, which is distinguished from Dromedary camels by its extra hump.

"It’s only the sixth time in the 40-year history of the zoo that one has been born here," Ron Magill of Zoo Miami told Patch.

Magill said there are fewer than 1,000 Bactrian camels that remain in their native Gobi Desert region of Mongolian China.

"They are a unique animal. They’re a fantastic animal," he said.

The baby was born Saturday night to parents Sunny, a 3-year-old female who was born at the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, and 9-year-old Bubba, who was born at the Minnesota Zoo.

Watch the birth of the camel below via video courtesy of Magill:

The newborn weighed in at just over 96 pounds following a pregnancy that lasted about 14 months.

One common misconception is that a camel's humps are filled with water.

That's not so, according to Magill, who said they are filled with fat, which allows them to go long periods between meals.

Camels rarely sweat and have an uncanny ability to conserve water, which allows them to get much of the water they need from the vegetation they eat.

When they do drink, they can take in as much as 30 gallons of water.

Their thick coat can withstand temperatures below zero in the winter, while they shed their coats in the summer to withstand temperatures over 100 degrees.

Magill said Zoo Miami's baby camel did not yet have a name. He said mother and baby will spend several weeks bonding before they make their public debut.

Magill has an easy way to teach kids — and adults — the difference between Bactrian and Dromedary camels.

"The letter 'B' in Bactrian — put it on its side, it has two humps," Magill explained. "The Dromedary, which is the other type, is the letter 'D.' Put it on its side; it has one hump. The dromedary is the one hump. The Bactrian is the two humps."