Photos and story by Monty Siekerman

For anybody writing a children's book titled, The Polar Bear and the Camel," here's your front cover picture.

The polar bear and camel would be natural predators, so it's a good thing they live far apart in the wild. But at ONU on Wednesday afternoon, they had a good time together.

The Student Planning Committee sponsored the event which offered free camel rides. ONU mascot Klondike took them up on the deal, as did many students, faculty, and staff members and their children.

The camels came from Jungle Island Zoo in nearby Delphos.

Here's the photo IDs:
• Klondike 
• Ben and Elijah Kerber
• Chris Anderson and Eli
• Justin Courtney

Some interesting camel facts:
• Live 40 to 50 years
• Adults weigh 2,200 pounds
• Height is 6 feet at shoulder
• Can run 25 mph, sprint at 40 mph
• Good for human transport and as a pack animal
• Also, provide milk, meat, hair for textiles
• They do not store water in their humps as once thought
• They can drink 53 gal. of water in 3 minutes
• There are two kinds:
   Dromedary have 1 hump, live in Middle East
   Bactrian have 2 humps, live in Central Asia