Wild Bactrian Camel

Here's a drawing of a Wild Bactrian camel (Camelus ferus). The wild Bactrian camel is genetically distinct from the domestic Bactrian camel; the two species diverged around some 0.7 to 1.5 million years ago. It's almost like a dromedary in terms of it's appearance. It's slightly smaller than the domestic, it's coat is almost always sandy, it has shorter and sparser wool, it's skull is flatter and the humps are smaller and pyramid shaped. It's a highly endangered species, with only 1400 individuals left in the wilds of the Gobi desert of Mongolia and the Taklamakan desert of northwestern China. Their threats are hunting for domestic use, hybridization with domestic camels, scarcity of water access, illegal mining operations, re-designation of wildlife areas as industrial zones and competition from livestock.