| Scientific
Name: Camelus bactrianus
Size: 2.2 metres at shoulder
Weight: 700 kgs
IUCN Endangered Species: Critically
Endangered
Estimated Wild Population: less than 1000
Distribution: China & Mongolia
Description: The
bactrian camel is an extremely threatened animal which faces a great
deal of problems in its native home of Mongolia and China.
Despite being rarer than the famous giant panda of China, it has
received nothing like as much government support. It was
domesticated several thousand years ago in the Bactria region of Iran,
hence its name. However,
its range is now severely limited, occurring only in a few separate
locations. As with the
single-humped Dromedary camel of Africa and the middle east, the
bactrian camel is a valuable pack animal which can carry huge weights
for days on end. The humps
on its back are used to store fat which helps the camel survive in the
harsh Gobi desert.
There are many domesticated camels in the world but almost no
truly wild-bred animals remain. Numbers
continue to drop heavily every year.
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