Wild Camels

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Wild Camels The Wild Camel is a distinct, endangered species found only in the Mongolian Gobi Desert. The charity survives on donations.

The wild camel is the eighth most endangered large mammal on the planet. There are approximately 600 in the Gobi desert in north-west China and approximately 450 in the desert in Mongolia. The Wild Camel Protection Foundation (WCPF) is the ONLY charity in the world with a SPECIFIC mission to save this remarkable creature and its pristine desert environment from extinction and destruction.

It’s one of the biggest misconceptions about this remarkable species.The Wild Camel (Camelus ferus) is not simply a wild...
14/10/2026

It’s one of the biggest misconceptions about this remarkable species.

The Wild Camel (Camelus ferus) is not simply a wild version of the domestic Bactrian camel. It is a completely separate species with its own unique evolutionary history, having diverged from the domestic camel hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Today, fewer than 1,000 Wild Camels remain in the wild, making them one of the world’s rarest large mammals.

Protecting their unique genetic identity is one of the Wild Camel Protection Foundation’s most important conservation priorities.
The more we understand about the Wild Camel, the better we can protect its future.

💚 Help us safeguard this extraordinary species.
🌍 Donate today:
www.wildcamels.com/help-us/
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The Wild Camels at our two breeding centres in the Gobi Desert depend on us for essential winter hay.This year, getting ...
12/10/2026

The Wild Camels at our two breeding centres in the Gobi Desert depend on us for essential winter hay.

This year, getting that hay to them has become a major challenge.

Because of the war in Iran, fuel shortages in Mongolia have driven transport costs dramatically higher. The hay is grown hundreds of miles away in northern Mongolia (we cannot grow it in the desert), and we may need two separate journeys, one to each breeding centre.

WCPF UK has already paid a $6,000 deposit to secure the hay, but we now need to find $10,000.

Every donation, however large or small, can make a difference.

If you or your business could help with the cost of transport, please contact Kate Rae: [email protected]
Or donate through our website:
www.wildcamels.com

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EndangeredSpecies Conservation Mongolia

The Wild Camel (Camelus ferus) survives in some of the most extreme landscapes on Earth, deep in the Gobi Desert.Tempera...
12/10/2026

The Wild Camel (Camelus ferus) survives in some of the most extreme landscapes on Earth, deep in the Gobi Desert.

Temperatures can fall to –35°C in winter and rise to 40°C in summer, while rainfall is incredibly scarce.

Their habitat is a landscape of rolling hills, rocky outcrops, mountain ranges and mostly dry riverbeds, with elevations reaching around 1,300 metres.

But even in this unforgiving environment, Wild Camels have preferences.
Research has shown that they favour areas with enough vegetation to provide food, while remaining close to vital water sources. They also tend to avoid steep slopes.
Interestingly, it isn't necessarily the quality of the vegetation that matters most. The quantity of available forage is more important.

As winter sets in across the Gobi Desert, male Wild Camels begin an extraordinary seasonal journey.From late December, f...
09/10/2026

As winter sets in across the Gobi Desert, male Wild Camels begin an extraordinary seasonal journey.
From late December, free living males start moving widely across their range as they seek to establish their own harems.

A successful male may gather 20 or more females.

The breeding season reaches its peak between January and early March, when these remarkable animals face some of the harshest conditions of the year.

For Wild Camels, the breeding season is a vital part of the cycle of life and the survival of this critically endangered species. 🐫

Every Wild Camel matters. Supporting their conservation helps protect the future of this extraordinary species.

❤️ Support the Wild Camel Protection Foundation and help protect Wild Camels.
https://www.wildcamels.com

``As winter sets in across the Gobi Desert, male Wild Camels begin an extraordinary seasonal journey.From late December,...
07/10/2026

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`As winter sets in across the Gobi Desert, male Wild Camels begin an extraordinary seasonal journey.
From late December, free living males start moving widely across their range as they seek to establish their own harems.

A successful male may gather 20 or more females.

The breeding season reaches its peak between January and early March, when these remarkable animals face some of the harshest conditions of the year.

For Wild Camels, the breeding season is a vital part of the cycle of life and the survival of this critically endangered species. 🐫

Every Wild Camel matters. Supporting their conservation helps protect the future of this extraordinary species.

❤️ Support the Wild Camel Protection Foundation and help protect Wild Camels.
https://www.wildcamels.com
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It may sound surprising, but the ancestors of today's camels first appeared in North America around 45 million years ago...
05/10/2026

It may sound surprising, but the ancestors of today's camels first appeared in North America around 45 million years ago.

Over millions of years, camelids evolved into a remarkable variety of species, with at least 90 different species known to have existed across the continent.

Eventually, some camelids began moving out of North America.

Around 6 to 7 million years ago, they crossed the Bering land bridge into Asia and Africa. Over time, these animals evolved into the camels we know today, including the Wild Camel (Camelus ferus).

Others travelled south, crossing the land bridge into South America. Their descendants eventually became today's llamas and vicuñas.

The last North American camel, Camelops, disappeared around 13,000 years ago, towards the end of the Ice Age.

So when we look at a Wild Camel today, we're looking at the surviving branch of an extraordinary evolutionary story that began in North America tens of millions of years ago. 🌎🐫

This fascinating information is taken from the 2026 article published in Mammalian Species.

And today, the Wild Camel needs our help.
❤️ You can help support the conservation of Wild Camels by making a donation to the Wild Camel Protection Foundation. Every contribution helps support the protection of these remarkable animals and their habitat.
https://www.wildcamels.com

Help us keep this ancient survivor where it belongs: in the wild. 🐫

03/10/2026

Once widespread, now confined to remote deserts 🐫
The Wild Camel (Camelus ferus) once roamed across a vast area of Central Asia, from western Xinjiang and the northern Tibetan Plateau as far east as Beijing.

Remarkably, Wild Camels were still recorded north of Beijing as recently as 1160.
Over the centuries, their range steadily shrank westwards. By the late 1990s, the area occupied by Wild Camels had fallen by around 70%, from approximately 97,500 km² in the early 1900s to just 28,000 to 30,000 km².

Increasing agricultural activity, along with more permanent human settlement and use of water sources, has contributed to this dramatic loss of habitat.

Today, the Wild Camel survives in only a restricted and fragmented range in southwestern Mongolia and northwestern China.

An animal that once travelled across a huge part of Central Asia is now confined to some of the most remote and inhospitable landscapes on Earth.

Protecting these remaining habitats is vital if the Wild Camel is to survive for generations to come. 🐫🌍

Please help us to protect these camels: https://www.wildcamels.com/camelus-ferus/

01/10/2026

Did you know that Wild Camels have a very unusual way of walking?

The Wild Camel is perfectly adapted for travelling across vast, open desert landscapes.
Its body has a unique combination of features that help it move efficiently over long distances:

🐫 Long legs and a tucked-in abdomen
Their limbs are longer than their body is deep, helping them take exceptionally long strides.
🐫 Splayed toes
Their wide, uniquely shaped feet provide stability on loose and uneven ground.
🐫 A very unusual gait
Wild Camels can use a pacing gait, where the front and back legs on the same side move together. This is unusual among mammals.

This smooth movement allows them to travel across open terrain with long, efficient strides while using less energy.
And there's another clever adaptation...
Their hind legs have a much greater range of movement because they lack the skin fold that connects the abdomen to the thigh in most mammals.
This gives the legs greater freedom and precision, while also allowing air to flow underneath the body when a camel is lying down.

In the extreme heat of the desert, every adaptation matters.

The Wild Camel isn't simply surviving in one of the world's harshest environments.
It is remarkably adapted to it. 🌍🐫

📖 Research published in Mammalian Species, 2026
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The Wild Camel (Camelus ferus) survives in some of the most extreme landscapes on Earth, deep in the Gobi Desert.Tempera...
29/09/2026

The Wild Camel (Camelus ferus) survives in some of the most extreme landscapes on Earth, deep in the Gobi Desert.

Temperatures can fall to –35°C in winter and rise to 40°C in summer, while rainfall is incredibly scarce.

Their habitat is a landscape of rolling hills, rocky outcrops, mountain ranges and mostly dry riverbeds, with elevations reaching around 1,300 metres.

But even in this unforgiving environment, Wild Camels have preferences.
Research has shown that they favour areas with enough vegetation to provide food, while remaining close to vital water sources. They also tend to avoid steep slopes.
Interestingly, it isn't necessarily the quality of the vegetation that matters most. The quantity of available forage is more important.

If you would like to know more, please see: https://www.wildcamels.com

We’re delighted to celebrate our ecologist, Dr Anna Jemmett, who was an invited speaker at the Tropentag Conference, whe...
24/09/2026

We’re delighted to celebrate our ecologist, Dr Anna Jemmett, who was an invited speaker at the Tropentag Conference, where she presented a paper she was part of:
“Challenges of Introgression in Conservation: Genetic Diversity of the Endangered Wild Camel (Camelus ferus) in Mongolia.”

Anna was also invited to receive the Yak and Camel Foundation 2026 prize for outstanding publication in the field of Yak and Bactrian Camel research.
This is a wonderful recognition of the importance of research in understanding and protecting the endangered wild camel.

In this photo, Anna is receiving her award from Prof. Dr Georg Erhardt, Chairman of the Yak and Camel Foundation.

🌍 A reminder that so much vital conservation work happens behind the scenes. From scientific research and collaboration to the dedication of ecologists working to protect these remarkable mammals, every contribution matters.

The paper can be viewed here (link in Instagram bio): https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.73293
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