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Bactrian Camel

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The Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) is a large even-toed ungulate native to the steppes of eastern Asia. The Bactrian camel has two humps on its back, in contrast to the dromedary which has one.

Nearly all of the estimated 1.4 million Bactrian camels alive today are domesticated, but in October 2002 the estimated 950 remaining in the wild in northwest China and Mongolia were placed on the critically endangered species list.

Physical characteristics and habitat

Bactrian camels are over 2 meters (7 feet) tall at the hump and weigh in excess of 725 kg (1,600 lb). They are herbivores, eating grass, leaves, and grains, capable of drinking up to 120 litres (32 US gallons) of water at a time. In the wilds of Mongolia, this is usually in the form of ice or snow eaten in small but frequent amounts . Their mouths are extremely tough, allowing them to eat thorny desert plants like asparagus.

They are supremely adapted to protect themselves against the desert heat and sand, with wide, padded feet and thick leathery pads on the knees and chest, nostrils that can open and close, ears lined with protective hairs, and bushy eyebrows with two rows of long eyelashes. Thick fur and underwool keep the animal warm during cold desert nights and also insulate against daytime heat.

Bactrian camels have two coats: the warm inside coat of down and a rough outer coat which is long and hairy. They shed their hair in clumps consisting of both coats, which can be gathered and separated. They produce approximately 7 kg (15 lb) of fibre annually. The fibre structure is similar to cashmere wool. The down is usually 2 to 8 cm (1–3 inches) long. While camel down does not felt easily, it may be spun into a yarn for knitting.

The dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) is the only other surviving camel, native to the Sahara desert, but today is extinct in the wild except as a feral species in Australia. By comparison, the Bactrian camel is a stockier, hardier animal able to survive temperature extremes from the scorching desert heat of northern Iran to the frozen winters in Tibet . The dromedary is taller and faster, and with a rider it can maintain 8–9 mph for hours at a time. A loaded Bactrian Camel moves at about 2.5 mph . Bactrian camels are also found in Hunder Sand Dunes in Nubra Valley, Ladakh. There are approximately 2000 camels in Nubra.

History

It is thought that the Bactrian camel was domesticated (independently from the dromedary) sometime before 2500 BC, probably in northern Iran, Northeast Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan or southwestern Turkestan. The dromedary is believed to have been domesticated between 4000 BCE and 2000 BCE in Arabia. The wild population of Bactrian camels was first described by Nikolai Przhevalsky in the late 19th century.

Subspecies

There is some evidence that the Bactrian camel can be divided up into different subspecies. In particular, it has been discovered that a population of wild Bactrian camel lives within a part of the Gashun Gobi region of the Gobi Desert. This population is distinct from domesticated herds both in genetic makeup and in behavior. However, the significance of those differences has not yet been demonstrated.

There are possibly as many as three regions in the genetic makeup that are distinctly different from domesticated camels and there is up to a 3% difference in the base genetic code. However, with so few wild camels, it is unclear what the natural genetic diversity within a population would have been.

Canadian researcher William Sommers found that these wild camels had the ability to drink saltwater slush, although it is not yet certain the camel can extract useful water from it. Domesticated camels do not attempt to drink salt water, though the reason is unknown.

Conservation

The Bactrian Camel was identified as one of the top-10 "focal species" in 2007 by the Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) project. EDGE identifies species that are evolutionarily distinct and need better protection to prevent extinction. The Bactrian camel was placed in the top-10 along with Golden-rumped Elephant Shrew, Attenborough's Long-beaked Echidna, Hispaniolan Solenodon, Yangtze River dolphin, Slender loris, Hirola antelope, Pygmy Hippo, Bumblebee bat, and the Long-eared jerboa. There are only hundreds of them in wild and the population is decreasing, but a large captive population had been kept.

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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 11:36:29 PDT (GMT -0700)
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