Searching for the Wild Bactrian Camel

Natural History, May, 2000 by John Hare

As the sun rises, Xiao Yuan and I let the sleeping herdsmen rest, and we explore an interesting-looking gully that twists back into the dunes. It seems to be a well-used wild camel track and probably leads to a spring. Halfway up the gully, we find large footprints that appear almost human. "It must be the wild man," says Xiao Yuan, meaning the yeti. Then he notes the telltale faint imprints of claws. We did not know that Tibetan brown bears penetrated this far into the desert.

Emerging at the upper end of the gully, we sight two wild camels walking straight at us. We duck down behind a tiny bush, not daring to move, hardly daring to breathe. The camels continue to advance. To our intense delight, they walk slowly down into the gully, passing within thirty feet of us. They are leaner and smaller than their domesticated cousins, and we have a bird's-eye view of their tightly formed, upright humps. The camels are in molt, but in prime condition. The lead camel suddenly stops (one camera click too many), turns, and sees us. Instantly the two race down the gully. Moments later, Xiao Yuan grips my arm. Another camel is coming toward us. This one pauses a long time before it turns and flees. I never dreamed I would get so close to one of these shy animals.

Pushing on, our caravan enters a huge dry plain. We see a kiang (distinguished by its large brown-and-white patches) and four surprisingly inquisitive wild sheep. Then the good-natured camel that is carrying my kit spots the bleached skull of a wild relative. He stretches out his neck and grasps the object with his teeth. Head held high, he crunches it up. I guess he must need a calcium supplement.

Twelve miles farther along, we pitch camp on a sandy incline facing the mountains. Here we establish radio contact with the Professor. He reports having reached a freshwater spring far to our east and is attempting to drive west to meet us. But no track exists, and the pitted ground is covered in rocks and boulders. "We dare not bring the jeeps and are only using the truck," he tells us.

The following day, after finding an unmapped spring where we are able to water the camels, we cross a mountain pass into yet another seemingly endless plain, where we see more wild camels, wild sheep, and kiangs. We come across vultures, at least a dozen of them, feeding on the remains of a young wild camel. By carefully examining the carcass and the surrounding footprints, we can tell that the camel was killed and gutted a few hours earlier by four wolves. One attacked the throat, and the other three, the hindquarters.

I cut off some skin samples from the hind legs, hoping the material will be useful for genetic testing. We submitted similar samples to the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York and to other institutions after previous expeditions, and the results suggest that the wild camel has a DNA makeup distinct from that of domesticated stock. Evidence is mounting that these animals are indeed a vestige of the original wild herds that roamed central Asia until 4,000 years ago, when humans began domesticating the camel.