Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Wild Bactrian camel (Camelus ferus), recorded as Endangered
Wild Bactrian camel (Camelus ferus). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Endangered

Wild Bactrian camel

Camelus ferus

The wild Bactrian camel or simply the wild camel is an endangered species of camel endemic to Northwest China and southwestern Mongolia.

Status
Endangered
Scientific name
Camelus ferus
Taxonomy
Mammalia · Artiodactyla · Camelidae · Camelus

Appearance

Their coat undergoes a seasonal change, going from a thick, shaggy light brown or beige in winter to a thinner, wirier, darker brown coat in summer.

Range and habitat

Their habitat is in arid plains and hills where water sources are scarce and very little vegetation exists with shrubs as their main food source. Wild Bactrian camels travel over long distances, seeking water in places close to mountains where springs are found, and hill slopes covered in snow provide some moisture in winter. In ancient times, wild Bactrian camels were seen from the great bend of the Yellow River extending west to the Inner Mongolian deserts and further to Northwest China and central Kazakhstan.

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.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

Breeding

Their lifespan is about 40 years and they breed during winter with an overlap into the rainy season.

In crisis

Camels face various threats among them poaching, climate change, being hunted, and human encroachment into their habitat. In the Gobi Reserve Area, 25 to 30 camels are reported to be poached every year, and about 20 in the Lop Nur Reserve. Other threats include scarcity of access to water such as oases, attacks by wolves, hybridization with domestic Bactrians leading to a concern of a loss of genetically distinct populations or infertile individuals that could potentially ward off viable bulls from a large number of females during their lifetimes, toxic effluent releases from illegal mining, re-designation of wildlife areas as industrial zones, and sharing grazing areas with domestic animals.

Due to increasing human populations, wild Bactrian camels that migrate in search of grazing land may compete for food and water sources with introduced domestic stock and are sometimes shot by farmers. The only extant predators that regularly target wild Bactrian camels are wolves, that have been seen to pursue weaker and weather-battered camels as they try to reach oases.

Wild Bactrian camel is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Wild Bactrian camel, Wikidata item Q3030198. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia · Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

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Vaquita

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Javan rhinoceros

Rhinoceros sondaicus
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Sumatran orangutan

Pongo abelii
Photograph of Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Axolotl

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Quick answers

What is Wild Bactrian camel?
Wild Bactrian camel is a mammal in the family Camelidae (order Artiodactyla) — Camelus ferus.
What is the conservation status of Wild Bactrian camel?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Camelus ferus. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Wild Bactrian camel live?
Wild Bactrian camels travel over long distances, seeking water in places close to mountains where springs are found, and hill slopes covered in snow provide some moisture in winter.
Why is Wild Bactrian camel in crisis?
Other threats include scarcity of access to water such as oases, attacks by wolves, hybridization with domestic Bactrians leading to a concern of a loss of genetically distinct populations or infertile individuals that could potentially ward off viable bulls from a large number of females during their lifetimes, toxic effluent releases from illegal mining, re-designation of wildlife areas as industrial zones, and sharing grazing areas with domestic animals.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Camelus ferus?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Wild Bactrian camel a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.