EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Lone Wanderer

Bactrian Camel (Camelus bactrianus), Family Camelidae
Gobi Desert, Mongolia

Explanation:  Across the vast high desert steppe country of the Gobi Desert, here in southern Mongolia, wanders this icon of the land.

This is a lone Bactrian camel, domesticated and used extensively here for milk, wool, hide, and transportation.  

Wild Bactrian camels, such as this individual, are listed as a Critically Endangered species by IUCN.  Their distribution includes a few isolated populations totaling less than a thousand individuals.  They are being protected in part of their Gobi Desert range in Mongolia, but much work remains to be done.

Studies have shown that the camels do roam through their designated protected areas but are very sensitive to disturbance by people.

Information:
     Kaczensky, P., and others.  2014.  Space and habitat use by wild Bactrian camels in the Transaltai Gobi of southern Mongolia.  Biological Conservation 169(100):311-318.