Students Pick Name for Baby Dromedary

Students in Moorpark College’s Exotic Animal Training and Management program have chosen a name for their baby camel: Qattara.

The female dromedary, born Tuesday, is named after a low desert region in northern Egypt where some dromedaries are found.

“I like to go with names from the geographical region the animals were from, so when we’re doing orientation we can educate the kids about it,” said Gary Wilson, the program director.

Qattara was born to 8-year-old Sadie at “America’s Teaching Zoo,” at Moorpark College, the only campus with a student-run zoo on the West Coast.

Qattara may provide company for Gobi, a 3-year-old Bactrian camel named after the high plateaus of Central Asia.

The public may have an opportunity to name the next baby dromedary in a contest, Wilson said. LuLu, a 12-year-old camel, is expected to give birth between now and April. Both LuLu and Sadie came from Gentle Jungle, an animal farm in Frazier Park.

In the meantime, Qattara, who is about 80 pounds and 4 feet tall, is doing fine, Wilson said.

“She’s getting up and nursing more on her own with less and less help of the trainers,” he said.