Bactrian Camel

About the Bactrian camel

The Bactrian camel is a two-humped camel native to the steppes of Central Asia, also known as the Mongolian camel or double-humped camel. It takes its name from Bactria, an ancient historical region of the area. Today its roughly 2 million-strong population exists mainly in domesticated form, and the species shares the genus Camelus with the single-humped dromedary and with the wild Bactrian camel, Camelus ferus — a separate species that is the only truly wild camelid left in the Old World. Genetic evidence indicates domestic and wild Bactrian camels split apart around a million years ago, so despite the resemblance, one is not simply a tamed version of the other.

Aristotle was the first European to describe camels, distinguishing the one-humped Arabian camel from the two-humped Bactrian camel in his 4th-century BCE History of Animals. The species received its current scientific name, Camelus bactrianus, from Carl Linnaeus in 1758. It belongs to the family Camelidae, and where its range overlaps with the dromedary's — in places like northern Punjab, Iran, and Afghanistan — the two interbreed freely enough to produce fertile offspring, which has fueled debate over whether they ought to be treated as a single species with two varieties. A 1994 genetic analysis found enough divergence in their mitochondrial DNA to keep them separate.

Physically, the Bactrian camel is the largest mammal in its native range and the largest living camel overall, even though it stands shorter at the shoulder than the dromedary. Shoulder height runs 160 to 180 cm (5.2 to 5.9 ft), with overall height reaching 230 to 250 cm (7.5 to 8.2 ft) and head-and-body length of 225–350 cm (7.4–11.5 ft). Body mass ranges from 300 to 1,000 kg (660 to 2,200 lb), with males averaging around 600 kg (1,300 lb) and females around 480 kg (1,060 lb). Its long, woolly coat ranges from dark brown to sandy beige, with a mane and beard of hair on the neck and throat that can grow up to 25 cm (9.8 in). The two humps are made of fat, not water, and shrink and lean to the side when the animal is undernourished. A long, somewhat triangular face with a split upper lip, long eyelashes, and sealable nostrils all help keep sand out during frequent sandstorms, while broad, two-toed feet with undivided soles spread wide for walking on loose ground.

Behavior and diet

Bactrian camels are diurnal, sleeping in the open at night and foraging by day. Their tough mouths let them eat vegetation that is dry, prickly, salty, or bitter, and in lean conditions they've been seen feeding on carcasses — gnawing bones, skin, or flesh — and even chewing through rope, sandals, and tents. Food is swallowed only partly chewed the first time, then brought back up as cud for further chewing later, a trait shared with other camelids. Bactrian camels belong to a small group of mammals that regularly eat snow to meet their water needs when no liquid water is available, which lets them range well above the snowline in winter.

Their tolerance for extremes is remarkable: they can withstand temperatures from −30 °C (−22 °F) in winter to 50 °C (122 °F) in summer, and they can go without water for months, but when it's available a thirsty camel in hot, dry conditions can drink up to 200 L (44 imp gal; 53 US gal) in a single day. Rather than trotting, they pace — moving both legs on one side together — and while they usually move at a walk or a sustained 40 km/h (25 mph), speeds up to 65 km/h (40 mph) have been recorded. They have well-developed eyesight and an extremely good sense of smell, and domestic Bactrian camels have even been observed swimming.

Reproductively, Bactrian camels are induced ovulators: the female ovulates in response to components in the male's seminal plasma rather than on a fixed cycle, with ovulation occurring in 87% of females after mating. Males can turn aggressive during the rut, biting, spitting, or attempting to mount rivals. Sexual maturity arrives at 3 to 5 years, gestation lasts around 13 months, and a female typically has one calf (rarely two) every other year. Calves are precocial, standing and running soon after birth, and are already sizable at an average 36 kg (79 lb). They nurse for about 1.5 years and stay with their mother for three to five years, often helping raise the next generation before striking out on their own.

Range and habitat

Bactrian camels are native to the steppes of Central Asia, ranging across terrain that includes rock-dominated mountain massifs, flat steppe, arid desert — most notably the Gobi Desert — stony plains, and sand dunes. Vegetation in this range is sparse, water is limited, and temperatures swing to extremes in both directions. Because of this, the animals are migratory, and their distribution tracks the availability of water: large groups gather near rivers after rain or at the base of mountains, where springs supply water in summer and snowmelt does the same in winter.

The species has a long history as a domesticated pack animal across inner Asia, dating to roughly 2500 BCE, and it once made long-distance trade on the Silk Road possible thanks to its tolerance for cold, drought, and high altitude. It was also imported to the United States in the mid- to late 1800s by the U.S. military and by merchants and miners seeking pack animals hardier than horses or mules; the effort, known as the U.S. Camel Corps, was ultimately judged a failure, and surviving animals were turned loose, producing small feral herds in the southwestern deserts through the late 19th century.

Conservation status

Domestic animals are not assessed on the IUCN Red List, so the domesticated Bactrian camel has no Red List category. The related wild Bactrian camel, Camelus ferus, is a separate species and should not be confused with it: today's domestic Bactrian camels do not descend from the wild population, having diverged from it roughly a million years ago.

The wild Bactrian camel, found only in northwest China and southwestern Mongolia, is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, based on a 2025 assessment.

Large-scale breeding operations for the domestic camel do exist, including government-supported and private farms in China's Xinjiang region and artificial-insemination programs in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. These aim to conserve genetic stock and improve reproductive efficiency, but they are agricultural breeding efforts rather than endangered-species conservation programs.