Does anybody know of a reliable and authorative source from where I
can determine if camels is a ruminants?

Yes.
 http://www.vet.purdue.edu/vtdl/tmp/course_work/digestive/nutshell/list_items/rmnts_eqne.htm

Well, camels don't seem to be mentioned on that site, but generally
they are considered to be ruminants:
http://www.ipl.org/div/dino/artiodactylstext.html
http://arbl.cvmbs.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/reprod/placenta/ruminants.html

although this site takes a stricter view that they are not:
http://www.llamaweb.com/Camel/Info.html

You can find many more sites on the subject by searching with:  camels ruminants

Hey... myoarin   :)

From: alanna-ga on 17 Dec 2005 20:03 PST     
Yes.

http://www.vet.purdue.edu/vtdl/tmp/course_work/digestive/nutshell/list_items/rmnts_eqne.htm
 
Ruminants..What are they?

Ruminants are animals that ruminate or chew the cud that ruminate!
They are the ones that regurgitate and remasticate their feed.
Ruminants include cattle, goats, sheep, deer, giraffe, musk ox, camel,
llama, alpaca and vicuna.

TL, Thanks!
And I read that passage three times to check!  Guess I didn't want to
see the camels.  I was thinking about their not having cloven hoofs
(hooves), which wasn't an entirely wrong idea, while thinking that I
did consider them to be ruminants.

Maybe I should lie down and chew my words for a while.  ;)

There is an Arabic saying:  Allah, give me a neck as long as a camel's
so that I can chew my words again and again before I say something.

My apologies, Alanna-ga.
Myoarin

myoarin - ROFL   :)  muahhahaha!