With the alias of Two-humped Camel, it
belongs to the Camelidae family of Artiodactyla order. Its Latin scientific name
is Camelus ferus, and English name is Bactrian Camel or Two-humped
Camel.
It is a large-size Artiodactyl, with high
and huge body that is much like domesticated two-humped camels. It has
small head and short ears, with a split in the middle of the upper lip and
valves in nostrils to protect against wind-blown sand. It has two humps on the
back and comparatively short tails. Its four limbs are slender, with wide and
thick meat pillows under the feet soles. The whole body is covered by dense and
soft fuzz in light brown yellow, with the mouth hair in slightly gray, and tips
at elbow joint in brownish black, tail hair brown yellow.
It lives in Gobi deserts. It is tame, alert,
tenacious, and sensitive, with swift and persistent running velocity, and able
to endure thirst and hunger, coolness and heat. As early as 2,000 years ago,
domesticated two-humped camels were vehicles on Chinese ancient "Silk
Road".
Wild Camel is
characterized by seasonal migration as well as day and night traveling. It
mainly feeds on red willow, camel thorn, splendid achnatherum, white thorn and
other plants, with the habit of looking for a comparatively tranquil place after
each meal, lying down and taking a rest for rumination. Its estrum period is
March, and gestation period lasts 13 months. It breeds once every 2 years, one
baby per fetus. It grows to sexual maturity at the age of 4 to 5, and has a
lifespan of 30 to 50 years.
Wild Camel is distributed in Inner Mongolia
Autonomous Region, Gansu Province, Qinghai Province, and Xinjiang Uygur
Autonomous Region.