It 's given us robot cars and internet-enabled glasses -- but when it came to creating a `` Street View '' of a desert , Google hit on a low-tech solution . It hired a camel . The beast has become the first animal to carry Google 's Trekker camera , which is typically hoisted by humans to capture 360-degree images of destinations inaccessible to its Street View cars . Google spokeswoman Monica Baz says the camel , reportedly named Raffia , was an apt way of documenting the beautiful shifting sands of Abu Dhabi 's Liwa Oasis . `` With every environment and every location , we try to customize the capture and how we do it for that part of the environment , '' she told The National newspaper . `` In the case of Liwa we fashioned it in a way so that it goes on a camel so that it can capture imagery in the best , most authentic and least damaging way , '' Baz said . The Liwa Oasis is a 100 kilometer-wide ( 62-mile ) scenic desert , southeast of the city of Abu Dhabi that includes some of the world 's biggest sand dunes . Bizarre sights . Street View Treks have previously explored sites including the Grand Canyon , Mount Everest , the Eiffel Tower , the Egyptian pyramids and the complexes of temples around Angkor Wat in Cambodia . There 's even an subaquatic Trek of waters around the Galapagos islands . Of course , while the camel can only be seen in shadow on the images it captured , Google 's Street View cars have witnessed plenty of other bizarre sights . Earlier this year one clocked what appeared to be the scene of an ax murder on the streets of Edinburgh . It later turned out to be a prank staged by auto mechanics who 'd spotted the car on its approach . Another hoax involved a woman pretending to give birth on a roadside . The service , which began in 2007 , has also hosted more startling sights such as a naked guy climbing out the trunk of a car and a man with the head of a horse .
Abu Dhabi 's Liwa Oasis is explored using a Star Trekker camera attached to a backpack . Google spokeswoman says the camera was most appropriate way to explore the area . Google 's team have previously explored the Grand Canyon , the Egyptian pyramids and the Caribbean islands .