File:Wild_Bactrian_camel_on_road_east_of_Yarkand.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
wild Bactrian camel
Sign in to saveAlso known as Camelus ferus, snow-camel
the only true living native wild camel in the world
Species
Endangeredvia IUCN
Wikidata facts
Show 6 more facts
- taxon rank
- species
- taxon name
- Camelus ferus
- IUCN conservation status
- Endangered status
- taxon common name
- جمل بري ذو سنامين
- gestation period
- 13
- Commons category
- Camelus ferus
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~13 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The wild Bactrian camel (Camelus ferus) or simply the wild camel is an endangered species of camel endemic to Northwest China and southwestern Mongolia. It is closely related but not ancestral to the domestic Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus). Genetic studies have established it as a separate species which diverged from the Bactrian camel about 0.7–1.1 million years ago.
Currently, there are only around 950 wild Bactrian camels. Most live on the Lop Nur Wild Camel National Nature Reserve in China, and a smaller population lives in the Great Gobi A Strictly Protected Area in Mongolia. There are also populations in the Altun Shan Wild Camel Nature Reserve (1986) in Qakilik County, in the Aksai Annanba Nature Reserve (1992), and in Dunhuang Wanyaodun Nature Reserve (now Dunhuang Xihu Wild Camel Nature Reserve) contiguous with the reserve in Qakilik (2001) and a reserve in Mazongshan contiguous with the reserve in Mongolia, all in China.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “wild Bactrian camel” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.