The Camelce is a curious hybrid of the American elk and the Asiatic camel, created when camels imported by the U.S. government for use as pack animals in the Arizona desert got loose and mated with elks in the wild. The existence of this creature was first reported in an 1875
New York Herald article about the Newton-Jenney expedition to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Correspondent R.B. Davenport noted discovering a large skeleton that looked to him like the skeleton of a bull elk, but he was later corrected by the scout "California Joe" who identified the bones as those of a Camelce. Said California Joe (as quoted by Davenport): "Well, sir, I reckon that there must be the bones of one of them camelces I's'eerd so much about. You see, a good many year ago the guv'ment decided to use camels for packin' supplies down in the deserts of Arizony. Some of the females escaped and, feelin' sorta lonely, they joined up with a elk herd. It wasn't long before they was matin' with the bull elks and the result was somethin' that was half-camel and half-elk. Dog-gonedest animal I ever seed ... "
Comments
Camel thinks I must walk past
Result: a Camelce
Mated with the native elk
Had very odd kids