June 22 - World Camel Day

 

Happy World Camel Day! To celebrate, we thought that it was time for you to Know Your Camelidae! 

Below is a look at the entire Camelidae. Most of the species in this family exist today only in domestication, but there are still some wild counterparts. 

 

Camelids were domesticated five thousand years ago to serve as pack animals and to provide milk, meat and a source for fleece. 

They can be found in Africa (Dromedary Camel), Asia (Bactrian Camel) and South America (all the rest). Now you know your camels! 

 
There are only three species of camel and only one of them is not domesticated, the Bactrian camel. The Wild Bactrian camel is in critical danger of becoming extinct in the wild.  

 
There are less than one thousand mature Wild Bactrian camels in the wild in Gobi and Gashun Gobi deserts of northwest China and Mongolia.  

Because of droughts, the number of oases has been reduced greatly. This causes a rift in the food chain as wolves have increased hunting wild Bactrian camels. 

Wolves are not their only predator. Hunters and miners kill around twenty Wild Bactrian camels a year.  

That is not their only threats. One of their natural habitats, the Gashun Gobi Desert, was a nuclear test site. Surprisingly, the radiation didn’t seem to have a negative impact on them. In fact, they appeared to have thrived.  

 
The nuclear test site was a restricted military zone and human activity was kept at a minimum. In 1996, China signed a treaty the ended the use of the test site.  

 
This meant the area was no longer restricted. As a result, the Wild Bactrian camel populations dropped quickly. They have been classified as critically endangered since 2002. 

Camelpox is a virus that they are susceptible to. Nearly 25% of the young that get it do not survive,  

A high number of camels suffer from parasite infestations that make them sick and many times, killing them. 

Camel mange, blackleg, tuberculosis, and Q fever are just a few diseases that can be detrimental to camels.  

With your help and the help of Wild Animal Health Fund, we can make a difference! 

 
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