Bactrian's Day Off

Explanation: Way up in central northern Mongolia, the grasslands here provide important habitat for herds of domesticated Bactrian camels. Long used for hauling packs, domesticated Bactrian camels are denoted as a separate species or subspecies from wild, undomesticated Bactrian camels that are the only true wild camel and that are critically endangered.

But this herd of domesticated Bactrians are safe from extinction, ranging from the Middle East through mid-Asia into eastern and central Mongolia and southern Russia.

Individuals of domesticated Bactrians are typically tattooed or painted, on the face or body, with distinctive shapes for identification:

Two-humped Bactrian camels are differentiated from the one-humped Dromedary camel which are found more widely throughout northern Africa, the Middle East, and even introduced to the outback of central Australia.

Among other interesting facts about Bactrians, the dung is often hung or piled and used as fuel for domestic fires, quite similar to how buffalo dung is gathered and used in parts of India.

Domestic Bactrians have been used by people for transportation and hauling marketable goods for about 3,500 years. As well, the meat, milk, hide, bones, hair, and other parts are used for a variety of products, food, and goods. Even the fat in the humps can be melted down and used for cooking!

A herd of domestic Bactrian camels near our
Ashihai ger campsite by Khovsgol Lake, northern Mongolia,
enjoying their "day off" from being used for packing and transportation.

And out in search of its pack is this lone domestic Bactrian camel,
here in the Gobi Desert region of south-central Mongolia.

Information:
Ji, R., P. Cui, F. Ding., J. Geng, H. Gao, H. Zhang, J. Yu, S. Hu, and H. Meng. 2009. Monophyletic origin of domestic bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) and its evolutionary relationship with the extant wild camel (Camelus bactrianus ferus). Animal Genetics 40(4):377-382.

EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week