Wild Bactrian camel

The Wild Bactrian camel (Camelus ferus) is a critically endangered species of camel living in East Turkestan and southwestern Mongolia. It is closely related to the Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus). Both are large, double-humped even-toed ungulates native to the steppes of central Asia.^[1] Until recently, wild Bactrian camels were thought to have descended from domesticated Bactrian camels that became feral after being released into the wild. However, genetic studies have established it as a separate species that diverged from the Bactrian camel about 1.1 million years ago.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]}

Distribution

Geographic distribution of the Wild Bactrian camel.

Currently, only about 1,000 wild Bactrian camels are living in the wild.^[9] Most live on the Lop Nur Wild Camel National Nature Reserve near the border with China proper to the East.