Status and distribution of wild Bactrian camels Camelus bactrianus ferus

Biological Conservation 1992, 62, 11-19

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Status and distribution of wild Bactrian camels

Camelus bactrianus ferus R. Tulgat Great Gobi National Park, Bayan-Tooroi, Gobi-Altay, Mongolian People's Republic

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George B. SchaHer Wildlife Conservation International, New York Zoological Society, Bronx Park, New York 10460, USA (Received 27 December 1990; revised version received 28 August 1991; accepted 7 October 1991)

Wild Bactrian camels Camelus bactrianus ferus survive now only in and around the Great Gobi National Park in Mongolia and in western China, principally in the eastern part of the Taklimakan Desert in the vicinity of Lop Nur. Although the animals's range has shrunk since the species was discovered in 1877, it still encompasses about 155 000 kmL Research on camels in the Gobi Park during the 1980s revealed a population of 500-600 camels that probably is in slow decline. Young comprised an average of only 4.6 (2-5-9.3)% of the total population between 1982 and 1989, suggesting poor survival. Wolves are the principal predators on camels. A prolonged drought which has concentrated camels around a few water sources may facilitate predation. The status and distribution of camels in China is still imperfectly known. Around 500 animals may persist in the country, but their future is threatened by hunting, settling of oases by pastoralists, and by hybridization with domestic camels.

INTRODUCTION

Russian explorers, among them P. Koslov and G. Groum-Grzymailo (see Zhirnov & Ilyinsky, 1986) also collected and observed wild camels in that region. After this initial flurry of contact with camels in China, foreign travellers encountered the animals so seldom that Zhirnov and Ilyinsky (1986) even feared that they now might be 'very few in number or totally extinct'. Although records of recent sightings were published in the mid-1980s (Cheng, 1984; Gu & Gao, 1985), little is as yet known about the species in the country. By contrast, once the presence of camels in Mongolia was confirmed in 1900, several surveys, especially between 1927 and 1977, added useful information on numbers, food habitats, and certain aspects of behavior (Bannikov, 1957, 1976; Dash et al., 1977). These surveys led to the creation of the Great Gobi National Park in 1976. The park is divided into two sections, of which the larger is 44 190 km2 and contains the country's sole camel population (the other part lies 200 km to the west and extends over 8810 km2). A biological survey

In recent historic times the range of wild Bactrian or two-humped camel Camelus bactrianus ferus is thought to have extended from the great bend of the Yellow River (about 110°E) westward across the deserts of southern Mongolia and northwest China to central Kazakhstan (Heptner et aL, 1966). Extensively hunted for its meat, the species had by the second half of the 19th century vanished from the western part of its range (Bannikov, 1976), but it persisted in remote tracts of the Taklimakan Desert of China and the western Gobi Desert of Mongolia and China (Fig. 1). There, in the Lop Nur region of the eastern Taklimakan Desert, the animal was discovered for science in March 1877 by Prejevalsky (1879). In the quarter century following this discovery, Littledale (1894), Hedin (1898, 1903) and several Biological Conservation 0006-3207/92/$05.00 ~) 1992 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd. 11

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Fig. 1. The current distribution of wild Bactrian camels in China and Mongolia. The circled numbers indicate camel reserves: 1, Great Gobi National Park; 2, Annanba Nature Reserve; and 3, Altun Mountain Nature Reserve.

was conducted in the park by a joint MongolianRussian team in 1980 and 1981, and it provided the first detailed data on the species (Zhirnov & Ilyinsky, 1986). One of the authors (R.T.) has conducted research on wildlife with particular emphasis on the camel in the park every year since 1982. The other (G.B.S.) began to collaborate with this work in 1989, spending three weeks in the park during August-September that year and 5 weeks during May-June the following year. Field work in China was limited with one of us (G.B.S.) visiting the fringe of camel habitat in several areas of the Xinjiang A u t o n o m o u s Region and Gansu Province between 1985 and 1988. We have combined our data from Mongolia and China to provide an overview of the camel's current status.

METHODS Wildlife counts along travel routes have been conducted annually at all seasons in the Great Gobi National Park since 1982. At least 5000 km are

covered each year by domestic camel or vehicle. Wild camels are counted in a 2-km strip on each side of the route• At the same time other information such as number of young in the herd is recorded. Since camels are exceedingly shy, usually fleeing from the sight or sound of a disturbance at distances that may exceed 1 km, observations on herd compositions, food habitats, and behavior are usually made from concealment, often near a water source. To supplement the ground transects, several survey flights, totalling about 1000-1500 km a year at an air speed of 150 km/h and elevation of 80-150 km, have been made annually since 1982. While conducting wildlife surveys in China, various areas in former camel habitat and along the edge of the animal's current range were visited, including the towns of Yiwu, Hami, Turpan, Kuqa, Qiemo, Baxkorgan, and Aksay (see Schaller et al., 1988 for travel routes in Xinjiang, 1985-87). Herdsmen, officials, and other residents provided information on camels. The Lop Nur region, the animal's principal habitat, is closed to foreigners for military reasons.

Status and distribution of wild Bactrian camels

13

Fig. 2. A camel herd at an oasis of grass, shrub (Salix, Tamarix),and a few Populustrees in the Great Gobi National Park.

T H E C A M E L IN M O N G O L I A The Gobi Park consists mostly of rolling plains and low hills covered with stone rubble and bisected by meandering, dry stream beds. Several mountain massif s, precipitous and with narrow gorges, protrude from the desert, prominent among them the Edrengiyn N u r u along the northern park boundary and the Atas Ula and Chingis Ula ranges in the southern part of the park. The plains and hills generally lie between 900 and 1800 m in elevation and the massifs attain 2100 m and more. With its harsh continental climate of cold winters (to -30°C and below), hot summers (to ~-40°C and above) and low precipitation (usually tess than 100 m m annually), water sources are few and vegetation is sparse. Only about 30 permanent springs occur in the park, some of them oases with tall grasses (Phragmites communis, Achnatherum splendens), thickets of Tamarix shrub, and stands of Populus diversifolia that provide camels with feed (Fig. 2). Away from the oases, the vegetation consists primarily of a low and thin cover of drought-resistant shrubs (Fig. 3), among them Haloxylon ammodendron, Cara-

gana leucophloen, Reaumuria songarica, Salsola arbuscula, Calligonum rnongolicum and Ilyinia

regelii. Shrubs represent the camels' principal forage and those named are all food plants, listed in approximate order of importance. Grasses and herbaceous plants are scarce. Large tracts in the park's center are almost devoid of vegetation. Terrain, climate and plant communities are described by Zhirnov and Ilyinsky (1986). Except for a few camels that wander south across the international border into Xinjiang and Gansu, the population is confined to about 28 000 km 2 of Mongolia (Fig. 4). As recently as the 1920s, this population extended east to Gaxun Lake in Inner Mongolia (Zhirnov & Ilyinsky, 1986). Camels made occasional forays far to the north of the present park borders during the 1960s, moving over 200 km to the vicinity of Boontsagaan Lake (Bannikov, 1976), whereas today they remain in or near the park. In the Gobi Park, as in other arid environments (Western, 1975), movements of animals are linked to the distribution of critical resources, especially water. The camels center their activity on two localities, both of them uplands. Most oases are located in foothills, and, after the water freezes, snow at high elevations may provide the only available moisture at a time of year when forage is dry. The main camel concentration occurs in the

14

R. Tulgat, G. B. Schailer

Fig. 3. Wild camels on a scrub-covered flat adjacent to barren hills in the Great Gobi National Park. Note the light color and small conical humps typical of wild camels. south along the Atas Ula and Chingis Ula massifs and the second lies in low mountains in the northwest corner of the park (Fig. 4). The region between the two areas has extensive barren and waterless tracts. During October and November, camels sometimes gather in the Atas Ula massif to obtain moisture after an early snowfall. A concentration of over 100 animals was seen there in October 1977 (Zhirnov & Ilyinsky, 1986), and at least 208 were noted in October 1988. Occasional fights between males in November signal the first stage of the rut. Peak rut is from late January to late February, a timing similar to that reported by Prejevalsky (1879) in the Lop N u t region of China. At that season, a male attempts to collect and maintain a harem of several females, sometimes as many as 10-20. Some adult males move alone from herd to herd only to be rebuffed by the harem male, or, as noted by Prejevalsky (1879), there may be a fight 'often terminating in the death of one or other of the combatants'. The adult sex ratio in the park is 1 male to only 1.6 females with the result that competition for each female is fierce. Many harems move away from the main areas toward the park's center (Fig. 4), whereas subadults and pregnant females remain in their usual ranges. Most births occur in March

and early April. Females leave herds before giving birth and move to lower elevations possibly because it is warmer there. They remain alone with their offspring for about two weeks. Preferred parturition sites are in the plains near the Atus Ula massif and in the interior of the park. Camel herds are usually small, with an average of 6.0 animals in 675 herds tallied throughout the year. Although a few individuals (3-5%) of both sexes are solitary, most (63-79%) are in herds of 2-15 animals, and some (7-15%) in herds of 26 or more, herd size varying somewhat with the seasons (Table 1). The largest herd contained 48 individuals. Not included in these counts are aggregations of camels at a limited resource. For example, 98 camels were observed eating dry grass at an oasis in October 1988. Herds are, on the average, larger from May to November, when they tend to be in the vicinity of oases, than during the rut and birth seasons (Table 1). Estimates of numbers have ranged from at least 300 in 1943 and 400-500 in 1959-60 to about 900 in 1974 (Bannikov, 1976). A 1976 survey produced an estimate of 400°700 (Dash et al., 1977) and a 1980081 census 5000800 (Zhirnov & Ilyinsky, 1986). Based on all transects, the calculated number of camels between 1982 and 1988 ranged

Status and distribution of wild Bactrian camels -%

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Fig. 4. Distribution and seasonal concentration of wild Bactrian camels in the Great Gobi National Park.

f r o m 520 t o 555 animals ( T a b l e 2). T h e census t e c h n i q u e s were n o t refined e n o u g h to p r o v i d e a basis f o r calculating c o n f i d e n c e intervals a n d to reveal small shifts in p o p u l a t i o n s size. W e presume t h a t there were b e t w e e n 500 a n d 600 camels d u r i n g this period. T h e s e results, t o g e t h e r with previous estimates, suggest t h a t the p o p u l a t i o n Table 1. Herd size of wild camels and percentage of camels in each herd size at various seasons; 1982-1989

Herd size

Percent of camels in each herd size Rut Birth season (December(MarchFebruary) April) (%) (%)

12-5 6-10 11-15

16-20 21-25 26-30 31+ Total no. herds Total no. camels Mean herd size~

3.1% 28.6 25.7 24.8 7.1 0 0 10.6 76 451 5.9

5.2% 25-5 23-5 19.7 10.4 8.9 4.2 2.6 236 1 246 5.3

Rest of year (MayNovember) (%) 3.2% 18.4 27.3 16.8 12.9 6-8 8.4 6.1 363 2 370 6-5

Mean herd size during the birth season differs significantly (p < 0.05) from that during May-November.

has in recent decades f l u c t u a t e d s o m e w h e r e between 400 a n d 600 animals. T h e 1989 census s h o w e d 480 camels, the first a p p a r e n t d r o p b e l o w 500 d u r i n g the 1980s. W e believe t h a t this figure reflects an actual slow p o p u lation decline r a t h e r t h a n just a v a r i a t i o n in census results. This s u p p o s i t i o n is b a s e d o n the few surviving y o u n g in the p o p u l a t i o n each year. Sample counts between October and December, Table 2. Calculated size of camel population (based on all transect counts) and percent of young in population (based on October-December counts only) in the Great Gobi National Park, 1982-1989

Year

1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

Approximate Total animals in population October-December size sample 555 540 525 525 525 520 540 480

189b 98 255 157 62 440 322 183

Percent young in sample, 6.3 4.1 4.7 3.8 3-2 2.5 9.3 3-1

, Excludes five young taken into captivity in 1988 and four young in 1989. b The 1989 sample was taken during August, September and November.

16

R. Tulgat, G. B. Schaller

when young of the year are six months old or older, showed that the percentage of young averaged 4.6 (2.5-9.3) % (Table 2). In only one year between 1982 and 1989 did survival of young appear adequate, 9.3% in 1988. Few data from other sources are available for comparison. In a small sample of 52 camels observed in late May and early June 1976 there were 21% young (Dash et al., 1977), and in a sample of 420 camels observed between September and December 1981 10.7% young (Zhirnov & Ilyinski, 1986). In China, Gu and Gao (1985) found 13.8% young in a sample of 80 animals during a survey of the Aqike valley near Lop Nur in May and June 1981. Small samples may skew results--we observed no young among 106 camels in late August and early September 1989--and data collected during months different from ours are not comparable. Nevertheless, the evidence suggests that survival of young has been poor since at least 1982, perhaps too poor in most years to maintain the population, given the low reproductive potential of the species and the mortality of animals older than one year due to poaching, intraspecific fighting, predation, and other causes (see below). The mean gestation period of domestic Bactrian camels is 406 days (Novoa, 1970), and a female can thus bear only one young every two years. The scarcity of young appears to be the result of poor survival rather than poor production, judging by the steady decrease of animals after the birth season. For instance, in 1986 there were 8.2% young in March-April, 4.1% in June-July, and 3.2% in October-December; in 1987 the figures were 13.8%, 6.2%, and 2.5%; and in 1988, 15.0%, 11.5%, and 9.3%. Between 1984 and mid-1989 a total of 89 camels were found dead, of which 61% were wolf Canis lupus kills, 2% snow leopard Panthera uncia kills, 12% the result of injuries incurred by males in fights with other males during the rut, 9% kills by poachers, and 16% were of causes unknown. Seventeen (31%) of the 54 wolf kills were young of the year. Of five wolf stomachs examined in 1987-89 all contained the remains of camel young and one also those of goitred gazelle Gazeila subgutturosa and red fox Vulpes vulpes. The remains of a camel young and a two-year-old were found at one wolf den, and those of two Gobi argali Ovis ammon darwini at another. Wolf predation seems to have had a significant effect on the camels during the 1980s. But without information on mortality rates of camels older

than one year and on levels of wolf predation before our study, we cannot assess the actual longterm impact of the predators. However, we surmise that a drought which began in the early 1980s may have had an influence on predation levels. Between 1980 and 1989, mean annual precipitation at Bayan-Tooroi, the park headquarters just north of the park, was only 50 mm (16-85 mm). With a drop in the water table, as shown by wells near the park, many springs dried up, and in many places the shrub Haloxylon ammodendron, one of the camels' principal forage plants, died. Localized near the few remaining oases for part of the year to drink and feed, camels may become particularly vulnerable to predation. Since 80% of the annual precipitation falls in summer between June and August and the frost-free period is only about 130 days (Zhirnov & Ilyinsky, 1986), there is much seasonal variation in quality and quantity of forage. During rains, feed is abundant and succulent as herbaceous plants sprout and shrubs have new growth; at other times it is less abundant and quite dry. Unable to meet their water requirements from forage, camels perhaps spend more time than usual around oases in drought years, exposing themselves to additional wolf attack. If they have to concentrate near a few springs for prolonged periods, they are unable to use much of the available habitat. Although forage appears plentiful and camel density in the park is low (about 56 km2/animal), lack of preferred feed near oases could effect an animal's energy reserves and its ability to escape wolves. In addition, argalis and goitered gazelles, two important prey species of wolves, have apparently declined since the drought began, either through emigration or lowered productivity. With alternative prey scarce, wolves have possibly concentrated more than usual on killing camels.

THE CAMEL IN CHINA The Tian Shan (shan means 'mountain') bisects Xinjiang east to west. Camels north of the Tian Shan have disappeared since Prschewalski (1884) reported them near the towns of Qitai and Manas. Now only an occasional straggler from Mongolia is reported east and southwest of Yiwu. However, south of the Tian Shan, camels persist in the major areas where they were first reported over a hundred years ago (Fig. 1). The principal range of the species, then as now, was northeast, east, and

Status and distribution of wild Bactrian camels southeast of Lop Nur, a lake and marshland which dried up in the 1960s after the water from its main affluent, the Tarim River, was diverted for irrigation. Hedin's (1903) expedition hunted camels in the Kuruktag Range northeast of Lop Nur, Prejevalsky (1879) to the east, and Littledale 111894) to the southeast in the foothills of the Arjin Shan (Altun Tagh), 'the most forlorn country imaginable'. Gu and Gao (1985) crossed the Lop Nur region in 1980 and again in 1981. They found camels north and east of Lop Nur, between Lop Nur and the Kuruktag Range, and especially in the Aqike Valley south and east of Lop Nur. This valley traces the northern edge of the Kumutake Desert, whose sand hills are, according to Gu and Gao (1985), so barren that camels seldom cross it. Thus, the population along the base and northern foothills of the Arjin Shan is almost isolated from that around Lop Nur. According to Prschewalski (1884), camels occur south of the Arjin Shan around Suhai Lake for Suhai Hu; hu means 'lake'), about 70 km southwest of Aksay in Qinghai. Prejevalsky (1879) also noted that 'during the excessive heats in summer, the camels are attracted by the cool temperature of the higher valleys of the Altyntagh, and make their way thither to an altitude of 11 000 feet (3355 m), and even higher, for our guides informed us that they are occasionally lbund on the lofty plateau on its southern side'. Our surveys revealed no camels around Suhai Lake, and we have no evidence of resident animals in Qinghai. However, we received several reports of camel sightings from the Arjin Shan east of Baxkorgan in Xinjiang near the Qinghai border. It is likely that camels cross the border on occasion (Fig. 1). The eastern edge of the camel's range lies in western Gansu where Cheng (1984) observed one herd with seven individuals and another with eight. Two camel reserves have been established in this region. The Annanba Nature Reserve in Gansu was established in 1982 and comprises 3900 km2; and the Altun Mountain Nature reserve in Xinjiang was established in 1986 and comprises 15 120 km 2 (Li & Zhao, 1989). Most of the Taklimakan Desert west of Lop Nur consists of shifting sand dunes and rocklittered plains almost devoid of water and vegetation. However, several rivers flow north from the Arjin and Kunlun mountains into the desert where they disappear underground. Along their courses grow stands of Phragmites, Tamarix, and

17

Populus, among others, and these provide camels with potential forage. Prejevalsky (1879) heard of camels along the Qiemo River, and Kozlov (1899, quoted in Zhirnov & Ilyinsky, 1986) found them common between the Arjin Shan and lower Qiemo River. The area is now heavily settled, and we obtained no evidence that camels persist there. Farther west, Hedin (1898) descended the Yutian River in 1896. He observed camels several times between the middle of the Taklimakan Desert, 250 km north of Yutian, and the Tarim River. E. Murzayev still found camels there in the late 1950s (Zhirnov & Ilyinsky, 1986). In 1989, B. Baumann (pers. comm.) retraced two-thirds of Hedin's route down the Yutian Valley before crossing west into the Hotan Valley without noting camel spoor; however, he was told that animals survived northeast of his route near the Tarim River. Informants in Kuqa gave us similar information. The current extent of the camel's range along this part of the Tarim River remains unknown. Although the range of the species south of the Tian Shan has contracted during this century, the animals have not 'disappeared without trace' as Bannikov (1976) surmised. But little information on the status of the species is available except that herds have been small and scarce for over 100 years. Prejevalsky (1879) noted that 'twenty years ago, wild camels were numerous near Lake Lob, where the village of Chargalik [Ruoqiang] now stands, and farther to the east along the foot of the Altyn-tagh, as well as in the range itself. Our guide...told us that it was not unusual in those days, to see some dozens, or even a hundred of these animals together...With an increase of population at Chargalik, the hunters of Lob-nor became more numerous, and camels scarcer. Now, the wild camel only frequents the neighbourhood of Lob-nor, and even here in small numbers. Years pass without so much as one being seen...'. Hedin (1898, 1903) occasionally observed herds with up to six animals, and he considered herds with 12-15 'extremely rare'. He commented o n the scarcity of animals, as did Littledale (1894) and more recently Lian (1986). Gu and Gao (1985) observed 98 camels in 21 groups which ranged in size from 1 to 23 with an average of 4.7. Their census of the Aqike Valley in 1981 revealed about 117-147 camels, and they estimated 'up to 200' in the Lop Nur region. We presume that there could still be up to 500 camels in China.

18

R. Tulgat, G. B. Schaller

CONSERVATION With perhaps no more than 1000 wild camels dispersed over an area of at least 155 000 km2, the species is obviously vulnerable and its future insecure. Two factors have enabled the animals to persist. One is their remote and desolate habitat, a desert that is among the most sparsely inhabited on earth; and the other is their extreme shyness, so much so that 'he shuns every place that human beings visit, however seldom' (Hedin, 1903). Nevertheless, in recent decades the camel's range has shrunk as motorized hunters have penetrated the desert and settlers have occupied oases, preventing all wildlife access to water. With springs widely scattered--water sources in the most verdant parts of the Lop Nur region are 30-40 km apart (Gu and Gao, 1985)--the loss of even one will adversely affect wildlife over a large area. Mongolia and China have both given the camel complete legal protection. However, each country has its distinct conservation problems. The administration of the Gobi Park provides the camels with active protection and it has a management program. The park is divided into three management zones. I n the northern part, along the southern foothills of the Edrengiyn Nuru Range, limited human use is permitted during drought years, as at present, and pastoralists graze their l i v e s t o c k a r o u n d the oases. Antipoaching patrols traverse this area as well as the uninhabited parts southward to about the center of the park. The patrol staff consists of six persons, too few to cover such a large area effectively. The remote southern half of the park has small military posts near the border; otherwise humans seldom intrude. Though, on the whole, well-protected in Mongolia, camels occasionally stray across the border to water sources in China where they are usually shot for meat, according to our informants. Xinjiang and Gansu should either establish reserves which include critical water sources or at least enforce existing laws against killing these rare animals. So few camel young survive each year in the Gobi Park that the population is perhaps slowly declining. Since wolf predation is thought to be a major cause of camel mortality there, the park administration initiated a wolf control program in 1987, and within three years the wolves were rare. A total of 33 wolves were killed in 1987, 37 in 1988, and 48 in 1989, 61 (52%) of the 118 being pups. If wolf predation has been a primary factor

in depressing the camel population, then this should soon be reflected in the survival rate of young. Other ungulates also exist at low densities in the park. There are an estimated 800 wild ass Equus hemionus hemionus, 900 goitered gazelle, 400 argali, and 600 ibex Capra ibex, a density of 14 km2/animal, including camels. The reduction in the number of wolves should have an impact on populations of these species as well. The park also began to establish a captive breeding herd of wild camels in 1987. A breeding nucleus of 20 animals is expected to provide individuals for release back to the wild. In mid-1990 the herd numbered 10 animals, including five young captured that spring. Camel bones found in Neolithic sites 6000 years old cannot with certainty be ascribed to domestic or wild animals since proportions and form of teeth and bones are similar in the two (Olsen, 1988). Prejevalsky (1879) was faced with a similar problem on discovering the wild camels, and at that time he first asked a question that troubled others later: 'Are the camels found by us the direct descendants of wild parents, or are they domesticated specimens which have wandered into the steppe...?'. As Bannikov (1976) noted, wild and domestic camels differ greatly in appearance. Wild camels have small, conical humps instead of large, irregular ones; they have a sandy, graybrown coat color and they have short and sparse wool compared to the predominant dark-brown and long, woolly pelage of domestic animals; they are slender instead of robust; and they have a small tuft of hair on the crown rather than a lush one (Fig. 3). These and other differences leave little doubt that the present-day wild camel is distinct and the progenitor of the domestic form. As such it deserves careful protection. Since wild and domestic camels readily hybridize, any conservation program must include measures that prevent the pure-bred wild stock from becoming contaminated by domestic stock. Free-roaming domestic males probably seldom acquire a wild female. Aside from the fact that many are' castrated, most may not be able to compete effectively with wild males. Domestic females are on occasion driven off and bred by wild males. In Mongolia, if the female rejoins the domestic herd, her hybrid offspring is generally killed by the herdsmen because its wool is of inferior quality. Hybrids have been observed with wild herds, as documented by Zhirnov and Ilyinsky (1986). The Gobi Park has in recent years culled three camels

S t a t u s and distribution o f wild Bactrian camels

that appeared to be hybrids. However, the wild camels there are so uniform in appearance that it seems unlikely that up to now their genetic material has been diluted to a significant extent. Domestic camels should, nevertheless, be prevented from using areas occupied by wild ones. The removal of such domestic animals from the northern part of the Gobi Park is a much-needed conservation measure. Mongolia has studied its wild camels, identified problems, and initiated action to protect the species. China so far has only vague knowledge about its camels: the animal's distribution has not been accurately delineated, reliable population estimates are unavailable, and conservation measures are still at an initial stage. Two reserves have been established for the species, a far-sighted action, but the areas lack field staff and the status of the camels in each needs to be fully investigated. Until now the camels have been able to maintain their precarious existence by secluding themselves in China's most inhospitable terrain. But as humankind penetrates even this last haven in search of oil and minerals or for other reasons, the future of this remarkable animal will become increasingly tenuous unless more active measures are taken to protect the species.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work is the result of a collaborative effort between the Great Gobi National Park administration, the Mongolian Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment, Mongolia's Ministry for Nature and Environment Protection, and Wildlife Conservation International. We are particularly grateful to S. Chuluunbaatar for his assistance; G. Dembereldorj, J. Tserendeleg, O. Byambaa, and U. Chuluun also gave us valuable help. In China, many individuals provided information about camels or assisted with wildlife

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surveys. We express our gratitude for these efforts, noting especially the contribution of Wang Menghu, Ministry of Forestry in Beijing, and Li Hong, Forest Bureau in Urumqi.

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