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Wild Bactrian Camel

Mammals

An endangered wild camel endemic to remote pockets of northwest China and southwestern Mongolia's Gobi Desert, genetically distinct from the domestic Bactrian camel and surviving on arid plains and hills where water is scarce and vegetation is sparse. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Classification
Diet
Herbivore 1
System (Realm)
Terrestrial 1
Relationship to People
Hunted or Fished 1
Relationship to People
Hunted or Fished 1
Living or Extinct
Yes 1
Derived from this species' own Conservation Status: this atlas's IUCN category list has no Extinct value, so a set conservation-status is itself evidence of living status.
Scientific Name
Camelus ferus 1
Conservation Status
Endangered 1
Downgraded by the IUCN from Critically Endangered to Endangered in 2025 despite an ongoing population decrease.
Population Estimate
950 1
Around 950 individuals remain; a 2013 study confirmed at least 382 in China, with Chinese nature reserves estimated to hold 640 to 740.
Identification
Distinguishing Appearance
Wild Bactrian camels have long, narrow slit-like nostrils, a double row of long thick eyelashes, and ears with hairs that provide protection against desert sandstorms. They have tough undivided soles with two large toes that spread wide apart, and a hard, calloused layer which enables them to walk on rough, hot, stony, or sandy terrain. 1
Comparison
CITES Appendix
Appendix I 1
Connections

Child Taxon Of

Artiodactyla, Taxa
Source Catalogue of Life

In Biome

Desert, Biomes
Source Wild Bactrian Camel (Wikipedia)

In Ecosystem

Gobi Desert, Ecosystems
Source Wild Bactrian Camel (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases

Found In

China

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Mongolia

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Sources
1. Wild Bactrian Camel (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • Introduction
    The wild Bactrian camel (Camelus ferus) or simply the wild camel is an endangered species of camel endemic to Northwest China and southwestern Mongolia.
  • Taxobox
  • Conservation status section
    As of 2025 the IUCN downgraded the Wild Bactrian Camel from Critically Endangered to Endangered despite the decrease in its population.
  • Population section
    Currently, there are only around 950 wild Bactrian camels.
  • Wikipedia, Description section
    Wild Bactrian camels have long, narrow slit-like nostrils, a double row of long thick eyelashes, and ears with hairs that provide protection against desert sandstorms. They have tough undivided soles with two large toes that spread wide apart, and a hard, calloused layer which enables them to walk on rough, hot, stony, or sandy terrain.
  • Distribution and habitat section
    After China signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1996, the camels were reclassified as an endangered species on the IUCN Red List.
  • article text (relationship to people), EntityId 267728
    Camels face various threats including poaching, climate change, being hunted, and human encroachment into their habitat.
  • Category: Fauna listed on CITES Appendix I
  • In Biome: Desert, Wikipedia 'Wild Bactrian camel': lives in the Gobi Desert region (Lop Nur / Great Gobi A protected areas)
View the Source
Wikidata: Wild Bactrian Camel
Wikidata Q3030198, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
Catalogue of Life
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of LifeChild Taxon Of: ArtiodactylaView the Source
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