The Desert of Lop

Wild Bactrian camel news -Disaster puts question marks on survival of double hump camels

2010-08-15T17:39:00.003-07:00

Disaster puts question marks on survival of double hump camels
Kalyan Ray, New Delhi, Aug 15, DHNS:
source - http://www.deccanherald.com/content/88984/disaster-puts-question-marks-survival.html

Even as Leh is limping back to normalcy from the impacts of flash floods, the anxiety level is increasing for a group of scientists with every passing day. There is no information on India’s last 150-odd double hump camels living in the Nubra Valley.

With the road connections between the Nubra Valley and Leh washed away, they are unable to reach the villagers who domesticate these endangered animals. The extent of damage in the Nubra Valley, known for these camels and sand dunes at an altitude of about 12,000 ft is also unknown. If they are wiped out, it would be a big blow to Indian biodiversity.“We just don’t know whether they have survived or perished. We are hoping for the survival of at least some of them so that we can start our conservation programme,” K M L Pathak, deputy director general in charge of animal sciences at the Indian Council of Agriculture Research, told Deccan Herald. Before flood struck the cold desert, scientists were fine-tuning a programme to conserve the bactrian camels—double humped ones—which are also found in the Gobi desert region in China and Mongolia, where they are endangered.To bring back these animals from the verge of extinction, ICAR roped in defence research and development organisation and Sher-e-Kashmir University for a breeding project that was to begin after the winter. “The flood has altered our plans completely. Now, we don’t know when we can start it,” said Pathak, a former director of National Research Centre on Camel in Bikaner that will play a key role in the project.With the focus still firmly on the rescue missions for human, the people involved in relief and rescue operations have little time for these animals. In the last seven days, IAF helicopters are rescuing people stuck at various points in the Zanskar valley and outskirts of Leh. With many local and foreigners still stranded, there is little hope for the scientists to reach the Nubra region till the road link is restored. Gestation periodCarrying a breeding programme for an animal that breeds only once in a year, at 12,000 ft altitude is a big challenge. Double-hump camels have a gestation period of 13 months and always produce single offspring.Even though conservation programmes are underway in China and Mongolia, ICAR have barely any information from those projects. The NRC-C researchers first generated data on physiological parameters and nutritional need for the bactrian camels. Subsequently, Sher-e-Kashmir University and DRDO were roped in for using their facilities at Srinagar and Leh respectively.Once the structure is in place, ICAR started its Rs 40 lakh breeding programme to save the double-hump camels from extinction, Pathak said.

Milk from a Bactrican wild camel is tasty and can help diabetics

2010-07-18T16:02:00.002-07:00

The milk from a camel is tasty and can help diabetics
A Sunday Telegraph reader shares his views on camel milk.

A Mongolian family and two Bactrian camels stand on grasslands in the Gobi, Mongolia, 1961 Photo: Corbis
SIR – While the wild Bactrian camel in China and Mongolia is much too timid and critically endangered to be milked, its domestic double-humped Bactrian cousin and the Dromedary camel (report, July 11) both provide milk that is much more than just palatable.
Camel milk is known to arrest, though not cure, diabetes, and, by drinking a litre of camel milk a day, some diabetics have been able to give up insulin.

In addition, the late Jasper Evans, who owned the Ol Maisor ranch in Kenya and 250 camels, invented a wonderfully potent drink called Maisor Mist. This is made from camel’s milk, sweetened condensed milk and brandy in more or less equal quantities.
This not only vastly improved inter-tribal relationships in Kenya, but it also induced a very sound sleep.
John HareWild Camel Protection FoundationBenenden, Kent

Camel crisis - More about the endangered wild Bactrian Camels

2010-07-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

Camel crisis
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=39989

Modernity, urbanization, motorisation are slowly destroying way of life that has survived for thousands of years.

By Ed Emery

The camel has long had a special place in the imagination of the West, from the Greek historian Herodotus telling a story about Indians using fast-running camels to defeat dog-sized, man-eating ants that guarded gold, through the Three Magi journeying to Christ’s birth, Lawrence of Arabia and the desert chic of Camel cigarettes.

At school you probably learned that the dromedary (shaped like a D) has one hump, and the bactrian (shaped like a B) has two (all very orderly). But perhaps you don’t know that in the first week of their foetal life, all baby camels have two humps. Or that the world’s camel cultures are in crisis. Some camels are threatened with extinction. Others are being slaughtered as pests. Modernity, urbanisation and motorisation are slowly destroying a way of life that has survived for thousands of years.

I recently asked a colleague at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), Stefan Sperl, to describe the place of the camel in the Arab imaginative landscape. He said that pre-700 AD, pastoral Bedouin poetry (still highly esteemed in the Arabic and Islamic literary canon) expressed a deep emotional bond between poet and camel. Camel journeys in this poetry have philosophical meanings about the journey through life to death -- naturally so, because in the harsh desert the camel is integral to family and community life.

But now camels are being viewed as vermin. Last November, under the headline “Town under siege: 6,000 camels to be shot”, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that trains of camels had invaded the town of Docker, breaking into houses and rooting up water pipes. During Australia’s worst drought on record, the camels were desperately seeking water. They were once a cultural oddity (camels were imported in the 1840s to help open up the interior, and then left to run wild) but have become a public menace. The local government response was to mobilise helicopters to drive them into the desert, where they would be shot and left to rot. Representatives of the cattle industry favour the cull, arguing that camels compete with cattle for sparse grazing. Environmentalists argue for a more humane and productive approach, such as developing an Australian camel industry on a par with that of cattle.

Sold for meat

Drought is the key, as it is to another location of the camel crisis. In 2009 two researchers, Ilse Köhler-Rollefson and Hanwant Singh Rathore, embarked on a yatra (pilgrimage) by camel caravan to document the crisis in Rajasthan’s prime camel breeding areas. A diary entry summarised the problem: “Yesterday we found that another 2,000 camels had been sold for slaughter at a market near here. Selling camels for meat used to be unknown in Rajasthan: The animals were far too valuable. The males were used to haul carts, and the females for breeding. But the decline in the amount of grazing land -- lots of new crop fields irrigated by tubewells around here -- means that it’s no longer possible to keep big herds of females. The problem is that irrigated cropping isn’t sustainable: the groundwater level falls, and the fields are left dry.”

Rajasthan boasts a major camel fair, a popular tourist attraction, held annually around the town of Pushkar. Camels are traded in their thousands. However, the fair is now threatened with decline: India’s camel population has fallen by more than half since the mid-1990s (it was just over 600,000 in 2005). With modernisation, road building and the growth of a car economy, camels are being replaced by trucks and vehicles. Conversion of forests and grasslands to other uses, plus damage by climate change, makes it difficult for herders to feed their camels. This is exacerbated by a recent ban on grazing in national parks. A quarter of a million people are thought to depend for their living on the region’s camel trade. So campaigners are now calling for national and international support for the camel culture.

The English explorer and conservationist John Hare made four trips in the late 1990s into China’s Lop Nor region, into pristine desert where he was able to study firsthand the dangers threatening the genetically distinct wild Bactrian camel. There are only 450 of them left in Mongolia and fewer than 600 in northwest China, and all are under threat. In Mongolia this is partly because of gold and iron-ore mining -- illegal “cowboy” mining and the operations of multinationals such as Rio Tinto. In China it is the result of the illegal activities of “ninja” gold miners (polluting freshwater river resources with deadly potassium cyanide used for leaching gold from rock). In Mongolia, the bactrians were seen as competition for livestock grazing resources, and so farmers shot them.

This May, Hare’s Wild Camel Protection Foundation made an emergency statement that in Mongolia’s Great Gobi nature reserve illegal mining pressures are “extremely serious and out of control”; this terrain is the natural habitat of the wild bactrian, a species now on the critically endangered list and subject of an intensive conservation programme sponsored by the Zoological Society of London.

But the threat is not only to the wild bactrians. The entire nomadic and camel culture of Mongolia is under threat, as encapsulated in three headline events this year. Mongolia had a traumatic climate event – a period of intense cold, after a summer drought known locally as dzud. Nomadic herders lost more than 4.5 million animals by the end of March. On 31 March, Rio Tinto Ltd and the Ivanhoe corporation finalised a deal with the Mongolian government to begin the world’s largest gold and copper mining operation at Oyu Tolgoi (Turquoise Mountain). That day, after a 10,000-strong demonstration, a group of Mongolians went on hunger strike outside the parliament building in Ulan Bator. They were demanding a greater share of the gold-mining output be dedicated to the good of the Mongolian people.

There are other questions of resource allocation, including water resources. A map produced by Rio Tinto shows that the company plans to sink boreholes into a deep-running aquifer and suck out water to feed its gold mining. Wary of public relations disasters, the website claims that this aquifer is divided from the surface water (needed by nomadic herders) by a thick layer of clay. The implication is that water extraction will have no effect on local farming. But there has been that drought -- so view Rio Tinto’s promo video of its gold processing plant and set it beside newspaper pictures of animals dying from thirst and lack of grazing. There are issues of corporate moral accountability in sucking out water for gold processing that could better be used to support the livestock of local herders.

With global warming now an established reality, the world’s deserts are advancing. Land previously viable for cattle becomes nonviable scrubland in which only camels can survive. But this has a positive side: Dr Khalid El Bahrawy of Egypt’s Desert Research Centre (DRC) believes camels can be at the cutting edge of projects of sustainable agriculture and land reclamation in times of ecological crisis because they can be farmed in those dryland areas.

Water is life

In Mali, in Africa’s northwest, desert life is harsh. The Malian group Tinariwen (“deserts” in the local Tamazheq language) have brought their “desert blues” to world public attention at the Festival in the Desert held each year near Timbuctoo. This is no mere romantic exercise. Their music makes radical claims for camel-based nomadic Tuareg culture and the right to rebellion. With the money they earn from touring, Tinariwen funds research and community activism in Mali to address access to water resources for desert peoples. The group’s latest album Aman Iman translates as “water is life,” and the video that accompanies it speaks eloquently of the problem.

The camel is a wonder of productivity -- alive or dead it provides useful products and services -- meat, milk, skin, hair, dung, bone. Camel researchers and environmentalists are especially interested in dairy production. In Somalia the organisation VETAID, together with Tierärtze ohne Grenzen (Vets without Borders), has been working to find simple ways of establishing a viable camel dairy industry to benefit both the health and the livelihoods of herder populations. In Europe, farmers in Germany and Holland have taken up the challenge of camels to provide milk to North African immigrant communities.

So what is the future? In a recent letter to fellow researchers, Dr Raziq Kakar of the Camel Association of Pakistan (CAP) argued that international food and agriculture organisations have not done enough to analyse what camel cultures really face. Since numbers are falling with alarming speed it is crucial to mobilise for the conservation of these cultures. Unfortunately, camel scientists usually concentrate on veterinary related issues, while breeds, conservation, cultural and socio-economic problems, production and marketing are generally not prioritised. Climate change makes camels a critical and integral part of sustainable development policies. The first step is to identify breeds and practices in communities, and construct comprehensive databases. Kakar says the CAP has joined forces with herders in Pakistan, so that their real concerns can be identified, and so that they can be centrally involved in policy making.

Ed Emery is organiser of Universitas adversitatis, a web-based free university, and co-organiser of the 2011 Camel Conference at SOAS.

© 2010 Le Monde diplomatique – distributed by Agence Global

China makes progress in artificial propagation of Bactrian camels

2010-04-12T14:38:00.000-07:00

China makes progress in artificial propagation of Bactrian camels

English.news.cn 2010-04-12 14:12:56 FeedbackPrintRSS

HOHHOT, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists announced they have made progress in artificial propagation of Bactrian camels.

Zhang Li, a researcher with the livestock improvement station in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, said they have succeeded in making the female Bactrian camel to produce three to five ova, instead of only one in normal circumstances, during the period a female Bactrian camel is in heat.

full story
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/sci/2010-04/12/c_13247433.htm

learn more about wild bactrian camels at www.wildcamels.com

Bactrian camels on the increase at Lop Nor

2010-04-12T14:29:00.003-07:00

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/photo/2010-02/21/c_13182297.htm

Bactrian camel runs at the Lop Nur Bactrian Camel Nature Reserve in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Feb. 19, 2010. The number of Bactrian Camels in the Lop Nur has increased due to protection in these years. (Xinhua/Wang Yongji)

learn more about wild bactrian camels- visit www.wildcamels.com

Bactrian camel-baby-born-at-Saint-Louis-Zoo

2010-03-18T14:27:00.001-07:00

http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Camel-baby-born-at-Saint-Louis-Zoo-88426057.html?gallery=y&c=y

Baby male camel has been born at Knowsley Safari Park

2010-03-12T13:20:00.002-08:00

Baby male camel born at Knowsley Safari park

learn more about wild bactrian camels at

www.wildcamels.com

UNICEF: Severe winter ‘dzud’ pushes most of Mongolia to disaster status

2010-02-13T16:01:00.001-08:00

UNICEF: Severe winter ‘dzud’ pushes most of Mongolia to disaster status

UNICEF intensifies efforts to reach children in the hardest hit rural areas

ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA 12 February 2010 – In response to weeks of freezing temperatures and heavy snows have left more than half of Mongolia’s 21 provinces in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, UNICEF has mobilized to help children and families, addressing their most urgent humanitarian concerns, including food, fuel for heating and cooking, blankets, and warm clothing.

The Government of Mongolia has declared disaster status in 12 provinces, with a further seven provinces predicted to move to disaster status shortly as temperatures continue to hover around -40 Celsius and further heavy snow is expected.

The children’s agency is working close collaboration with other UN agencies, including UNFPA, FAO and UNDP, with the Government of Mongolia and major NGOs, to gear up a significant humanitarian response and coordinated the response to the challenges of this unfolding emergency.

These winter conditions, known locally as a dzud, are likely to continue beyond April, and the severity of the coming months will determine the unfolding extent of the humanitarian and food security efforts needed.

While the people of Mongolia are used to cold winter conditions, it is the combination of a severe summer drought, where little fodder was generated, and severely cold temperatures that harden heavy snow which have crippled the rural population largely reliant on herding and agriculture.

So far, the dzud has killed more than two million livestock, devastated the livelihoods of families in the agriculture sector, which employs 35 – 40 per cent of the population, and isolated herders and villages from accessing food, fuel and medical care.

In the previous dzud of 2001, not considered as severe as the current one, Mongolia suffered a deepening of poverty and lowered GDP, raised chronic malnutrition levels, and watched a massive influx of the rural population to the peri-urban areas around the capital city of Ulaanbaatar.

The Government has appealed to the local and international community for urgent support to reach the herders with fodder, fuel, medicines, food and warm clothing.

UNICEF has already responded to a call for support from the Ministry of Education for urgent attention to failing heating systems and limited food supplies in 18 school dormitories where children are housed, facing difficulties to return to their families due to the dangerous travel conditions. A convoy to some of the villages in the worst affected areas will shortly deliver food, fuel, blankets, hygiene kits, and boots to vulnerable poor families.

“This is an unfolding emergency, said Rana Flowers, the UNICEF Representative in Mongolia. “Of most recent and most urgent concern is evidence that babies and young children are dying because they cannot access the medical treatment from trained personnel that they need.”

“The UN is acutely aware of the need to reach increasingly isolated populations with fuel and medicines, to get those in need out to trained medical care and to provide hygiene kits to stem the spread of disease, to ensure safe delivery and newborn care and to prevent the deepening of chronic malnutrition in this country.”

Information from the Ministry of Health received today confirms that 9 young children have died in recent days in one province alone. The figures from other provinces are not yet available.

“Vulnerability to disease is heightened for those children living in dormitories and in poor households in villages where the heating is not working, the fuel is insufficient and where food is in short supply. There are over 22,000 children in 265 dormitories in need of urgent assistance, but this number grows every few days as the severe conditions spread across the rest of the country widening the net cast by the disaster,” Flowers said.

As the severity of winter conditions spread across the country, as many as 492 additional dormitories will need assistance with more than 41,078 children in their care. Over the last few days, the Mongolian National Emergency Management agency (NEMA) has indicated that several villages are facing diminishing supplies of fuel for heating and cooking. In some cases, the villages only have enough fuel for three or four more days.

Even in non-emergency times, access to clean water and adequate sanitation are significant areas of concern for Mongolia. Once a thawing begins in the spring, the impact of dead animals and generally poor sanitation practices are predicted to result in a further spread of disease.

UNICEF says it faces a critical need for an additional USD 400,000 for medical supplies, equipment, micronutrients, and hygiene interventions as well as $322,000 to reach the growing number of affected communities with other life saving interventions.

As Mongolia moves into the spring, food security concerns will increase and the response will need to be well coordinated. In addition to the ongoing humanitarian efforts, child protection and psychosocial support will also be needed as families struggle with the overwhelming emotional and psychological impact of their losses and to handle difficult migration to burgeoning peri-urban areas where access to water and sanitation and basic social services will be severely limited.

For further information, please contact:
Bolor Purevdorj, Communication Specialist, ;
Tel + 976 11 312 183; / + 976 11 312 185
bpurevdorj@unicef.org

Mongolia faces hunger crisis video

2010-02-13T15:22:00.002-08:00

Nomad Green: Mongolia - A Disaster In The Making

read article - http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/blog/2010/02/13/nomad-green-mongolia-a-disaster-in-the-making/

Mongolia faces hunger crisis video on Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04e_QAztUKU&feature=player_embedded

As severe winter spreads death and shortages in Mongolia, UN appeals for funds

2010-02-13T15:17:00.002-08:00

As severe winter spreads death and shortages in Mongolia, UN appeals for funds

A herder milks yaks in Must, Khovd Province, Mongolia (file)
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33751&Cr=&Cr1=

12 February 2010 – With weeks of freezing temperatures and heavy snows leaving more than half of Mongolia’s 21 provinces in urgent need of aid, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today appealed for nearly $750,000 to face a crisis that is already seeing youngsters die and threatens scores of thousands more.
“The UN is acutely aware of the need to reach increasingly isolated populations with fuel and medicines, to get those in need out to trained medical care and to provide hygiene kits to stem the spread of disease, to ensure safe delivery and newborn care and to prevent the deepening of chronic malnutrition,” UNICEF country representative Rana Flowers said.

“This is an unfolding emergency. Of most recent and most urgent concern is evidence that babies and young children are dying because they cannot access the medical treatment from trained personnel that they need,” she added, noting that nine children had died in recent days in just one province according to the Health Ministry.

Over 22,000 children in 265 dormitories are in need of urgent aid due to insufficient food and fuel for heating and cooking, and nearly 500 other dormitories with more than 41,000 youngsters will need assistance as severe conditions spread across the vast country of some 3 million people. Some villages only have enough fuel for three or four more days.

UNICEF, which is working with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to gear up a significant and coordinated response, faces a “critical need” for an additional $400,000 for medical supplies, equipment, micronutrients and hygiene kits, and $322,000 to reach a growing number of affected communities with life-saving interventions.

The winter conditions, known as a dzud with temperatures plunging as low as -50 degrees Celsius and now hovering around -40, are likely to continue beyond April. The Government has already declared disaster status in 12 provinces with a further seven predicted to follow as further heavy snow is expected.

While Mongolians are used to cold winters, current conditions have been compounded by a severe summer drought, when little fodder was generated, killing more than 2 million livestock in a country where 35 to 40 per cent of the population rely on herding and agriculture

News Tracker: past stories on this issue

Extreme cold triggers livestock disaster in Mongolia – UN

“Bradford and the Journey to the Desert of Lop”- a Journey of Truth, Courage and Magic into the Gobi and Gashun Gobi Deserts

2009-07-10T21:45:00.000-07:00

Children’s and Family Book “Bradford and the Journey to the Desert of Lop”- a Journey of Truth, Courage and Magic into the Gobi and Gashun Gobi Deserts

Book explores Wild Bactrian Camels, The People of Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and the Magic and Wonder of the Desert

POINT ROBERTS, WA, Delta BC- July 10, 2009 - Wild Heart Ranch, Inc’s children’s book and toy line,” Bradford and the Journey to the Desert of Lop” gives reader colorful insight into the life of the wild Bactrian camels and the people of the Gobi and Gashun Gobi deserts in north-west China and south-west Mongolia.
The book was created based on the inspiring real- life courage of Bradford Lawless, a young boy battling Ewing’s Sarcoma and a serendipitous connection that was formed with the wild Bactrian Camels of Lop Nor. The journey of magic, courage and hope leads the boy and his companion the Sandman, to discover the mysteries of the Gobi.
The Xinjiang Lop Nur Wild Camel Nature Reserve in China's north western province, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous region is the home of the wild Bactrian camels that Brad discovers on his magical dream journey with the Sandman. Ironically he discovers that the camels have been exposed to nuclear testing in the desert but have not developed cancer.
The Sandman reminds him that “ it is in the places hidden from man that we find the answers- the sky, the ocean and the desert.”
The book closes with” So close your eyes as you drift off to sleep and imagine him riding through the desert on the back of Judy the camel, wearing his warrior shirt , his blue night cap with moons and stars flying like a flag in the wind, and waving his sword. He is riding through your dreams to find your heart, because it alone can hear the truth of the Desert of Lop.”
The toys and books produced by Wild Heart Ranch empower children with cancer and bring awareness to the endangered wild Bactrian camel. The wild camels living in the far away Gobi Desert may offer a possible cure for illness based on preliminary research according to the Wild Camel Foundation.

The book supports awareness for the Wild Camel Protection Foundation at www.wildcamels.com The Wild Camel Protection Foundation, a United Kingdom registered charity, with Jane Goodall as its patron, was established in 1997. It is also registered in the USA as a non-profit organization. The sole aim of the Wild Camel Protection Foundation is to protect the critically endangered wild Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus ferus) and its habitat in the fragile and unique desert ecosystems in the Gobi and Gashun Gobi deserts in Northwest China and South West Mongolia.
The Book: Bradford and the Desert of Lop
Bradford and the Desert of Lop
Written by Dawn Van Zant
Illustrated by Alexander Levitas
Excerpt:
"As if by magic, the wind stopped, the dust settled, and the heat lifted its blanket. He opened his eyes and they were filled with the sight of a herd of wild camels - a bull, several females, and their young calves. The two humped shaggy camels appeared almost orange against the backdrop of the desert in the blazing sun. They had formed a circle around him and were kneeling on the desert sand. In the center, he slowly moved and looked deeply into their soft big eyes one by one. He felt that he knew these camels from a time long ago. As he turned slowly to his right, his eyes met with a female camel and he knew instinctively what she wanted. He walked gently towards her and climbed upon her back. Slowly, she rose fully upright, and the herd followed suit, one by one as if in a rhythmic dance."
The Toys – Judy the Wild Bactrian Camel
Plush Camel: Meet "Judy", a plush, wild Bactrian camel, from the story "Bradford and the Desert of Lop". Branded with a gold moon and star, this soft, cuddly nighttime companion is sure to send children on a magical, sleepy journey with the Sandman. This 14" soft plush toy includes a neck tag and web site info on The Wild Camel Protection Foundation
+enlarge photo

About Wild Heart Ranch: Follow Us to the Depths of Imagination…
www.wildheartranch.com
Wild Heart Ranch, Inc. is a publishing, entertainment and toy company that creates and licenses non-violent toys and products based on original ideas, stories and characters. The unique combined elements of light, magic and branded stars and moons on the plush toys identify us in the marketplace.

The 'Lucky Stars Collection', 'No More Night Mares', 'Armadillo Cowboy Club', 'I Sea Horses', ' Bradford and the Journey to the Desert of Lop', & 'Favorite Pet Stories' brands, characters, logos, stories, web sites, video games, patents and trademarks, are all properties of Wild Heart Ranch, Inc.

For more information contact
Toll Free: 1.888.889.9213
Cali Van Zant sales@wildheartranch.com

WILD CAMEL PROTECTION FOUNDATION Newsletter

2009-05-31T14:18:00.001-07:00

WILD CAMEL PROTECTION FOUNDATION

School Farm, Benenden, Kent, TN17 4EU England

Tel: 44 (0) 1580 241 132
Email: harecamel@aol.com
www.wildcamels.com
Hon. Life Patron: Dr. Jane Goodall D.B.E.
Patrons:
The Marchioness of Bute, Damon de Laszlo,, Lulu Lytle, Jane McMorland Hunter of Hafton,
Professor David Munro, The Marchioness of Reading

June 2009 - Newsletter Number 21

Dear Supporter,

Patron
Lady Bute, is a long-standing supporter of the Wild Camel Protection Foundation and the wild Bactrian camels, and she is one of the few members who has visited the wild Bactrian camel breeding centre at Zakhyn Us in Mongolia and trekked on domestic Bactrian camels to Mother Mountain. It was her excellent suggestion, which she put to the Trustees, that we should invite several people to become Patrons of the Wild Camel Protection Foundation. Lady Bute kindly agreed to become a Patron and we look forward to all our new Patrons helping us in our efforts to raise awareness of our work and in the present difficult economic climate assist us with our fund-raising activities.

Funding
You are all aware, of the extra call on our funds over $15,000 to purchase the additional hay required for food for the wild Bactrian camels at the Breeding Centre. This was as a result of the severe snowstorms which occurred during the early Mongolian winter. This call on our Reserve Funds has left our finances severely depleted. Thank you very much to the many members who responded most generously to our call for funding. In particular we would like to thank the Member who very generously paid for the motor bike for the herdsman, Tsog Erdene. This improved his ability to work in very difficult and severe weather conditions, and made it much more manageable for him, especially during the recent breeding and calving season.

We are now working very hard to replenish the Reserve Fund so as to cover the annual costs of the Breeding Centre and on-going our work in Mongolia and China to protect and conserve the wild Bactrian camel. To help us do this we have organized two fund-raising events in England. Here are the details of the first one taken from our promotional leaflet:

June 21st JOSEPH AND HIS AMAZING CAMELS
WHERE: The Old Farmhouse, White House Farm, Idlicote, Near Shipston-on-Stour. Warwickshire CV36 5DN. We will put signs up from Halford, Honington and Idlicote From London you take the M40 and leave at J11, follow the A361 for 12miles until left turn for Halford in Pillerton Priors and follow signs for open Day. From the North M6 or M1 to M40 leave at J15 and follow A429 to Halford.
WHEN : 21 June 2009
TIME: 12.00 pm - 6.00pm
The only camel racing business in the UK is putting on a spectacular display to raise money for the Wild Camel Protection Foundation the only camel Foundation in the world with the aim of protecting and conserving the wild Bactrian camel in the wild in China and Mongolia.
Bring the whole family for a fascinating day out. Give YOUR children a ride on a Bactrian camel.
There are SEVEN domestic Bactrian camels impeccably mannered and professionally trained with Jockeys who are all experienced riders schooled to get the best out of the camels. All Jockeys and handlers are attired in Arabian style costumes to complement the camels in their magnificent racing colours.
Belly Dancing 12.00pm - 2.00 pm
Camel Racing 2.00pm
Pig Racing 3.00 pm
Camel Riding 4.00 pm - 6.00 pm.
Book (old books) Stall Cake Stall
Bowling at Skittles and other side-shows including a working smithy
Pin the tail on a camel
Bar and country fair food
Car Park Fee - £5.00
As you can see this should be a lively event and we are inviting ALL members and Supporters to come and enjoy a day out for the wild Bactrian camel. If any members would like to run a stall we would like to hear from you and we also need volunteers. Please Email me on harecamel.aol.com Cakes for the cake stall would also be VERY WELCOME. So do come along, bring a cake and your old books and enjoy yourselves. If you would like to be sent a promotional leaflet in colour , so you can advertise the event for us, please ask me for one.
SECOND FUND RAISING EVENT – A DINNER
The second fund-raising activity is very different. One of our Patrons, Damon de Laszlo has agreed to host a dinner on 7th July at his house in Albany, Piccadilly, London which used to belong to Byron. 18 guests have been invited to dine in these surroundings and see some of the portraits which were painted during the Edwardian era by Damon’s grandfather, Philip de Laszlo. Jane Goodall will make a pre-recorded address and I will talk about wild Bactrian camels for about 5 minutes. The guests will then be invited to make a generous donation to the Wild Camel Protection Foundation. If any Member knows of anyone who may be interested in being one of these guests could they please get in touch with me direct. Numbers are very restricted.

OTHER FUND-RAISING IDEAS
In addition, if any member has any other fund–raising ideas to please do let us have them. Costs for the Breeding Centre in Mongolia are approximately £35,000 a year. However what we are trying to secure is long term funding for Mongolia and also for further survey and scientific field work required in China.

VEHICLE - URGENT
We still need to purchase a vehicle, a good second-hand which would cost approximately, $45,000. All ideas as to how we might obtain sponsorship for the cost
of this vehicle and donations towards the purchase price are most welcome.

CHINA:
Yuan Lei, Professor Yuan Guoying’s son who works full time for the Reserve has sent in regular reports both to us and ZSL in his capacity as an Edge Fellow. These have been informative and detailed and he has made two more expeditions into the Reserve since the last newsletter with members of the Reserve office staff. We are putting him forward for a Wildlife Conservation Network scholarship. He is currently working towards his Doctorate. We are very fortunate to have him as part of the team in China.
I have been invited to join one of the Reserve’s surveys in the autumn of this year to the Taklamakan Desert which is outside the Reserve. Wild Batrian camels have been sighted in this desert and the investigation plans to try to ascertain just how many there are. At the time of writing I have not managed to acquire the funding needed for me to join them (approximately $12,000) but I live in hope!

MONGOLIA:
The disquieting news concerning the illegal gold miners who had entered the
Mongolian Great Gobi Specially Protected Area ‘A’, the habitat of the wild Bactrian camel and other critically endangered species, which I reported on in the last newsletter has been given a new twist. There is now proposal to de-gazette parts of Gobi ‘A’ to allow gold mining to take place. We have written to inform all the international organizations such as IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature), ZSL (Zoological Society of London), Denver Zoo, CMS (Convention for Migratory Species) who have an interest in protecting the Mongolian Great Gobi about this serious development. We are, through Bilgee and the Mongolian Wild Camel NGO and the members in the Mongolian Ministry of Nature and Environment trying hard and putting pressure on members of the parliament to vote against this proposal. We have asked Bilgee to keep us informed as events unfold. Of course, it is a highly political proposal which would have far-reaching consequences, not only for the critically endangered species within the protected area, but also for other reserves and for conservation generally in Mongolia. We will keep our members closely informed.

NEW BORN CALVES AT THE BREEDING CENTRE
Three new calves have been born at the Breeding Centre, Zakhyn-Us. They were born at the end of the current calving season and have all survived to date. Two of the calves are male and one is a female. We would have liked all three to be female as too many young males present problems but we cannot be arbiters on the sex of our young captive camels!

SEPTEMBER 2009 – MEETING TO AGREE RELEASE PROGRAMME FOR THE WILD BACTRIAN CAMELS AT THE BREEDING CENTRE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE WILD BACTRIAN CAMEL IN MONGOLIA
In conjunction with ZSL, the WCPF UK and the WCPF Mongolian NGO, the Mongolian Ministry of Environment and Nature (MNE) are planning a meeting in Ulaan Baator in September 2009. Local stakeholders and international scientists concerned with the wild Bactrian camel will be invited to this meeting as well. The aim of the meeting is to discuss and decide on a Release Programme in a protected area in Mongolia for the wild Bactrian camels at the Breeding Centre; and the development of the Strategic Plan for the protection and conservation of the wild Bactrian camel in Mongolia. This must be done with the approval and agreement of the MNE. The results of this meeting will eventually become part of the Mongolian National Programme for the wild Bactrian camel. The WCPF Mongolian NGO is now preparing materials for this meeting.

WILD CAMEL PROTECTION FOUNDATION - MONGOLIAN MICROFINANCE
Part of our work is supporting the Communities local to the Breeding Centre. We are already selling knitted items on our website. The WCPF has been asked by the women knitters to help with the cost of a local building. The cost to WCPF would be 50% of the total cost of a building, which will give the knitters of the Bactrian camel items, hats scarves glove and socks, a much better place to work. They would also be able to knit more items for us to sell, and earn more income themselves.
The total cost of this local Mongolian Community project is $2,100.
WCPF microfinance funding would be $1,050 (50%).
This is part of a microfinance project, with the knitters repaying the WCPF annually with knitted items, using local Bactrian camel wool, which WCPF can then sell.

EDGE – Wild Mammals on the Edge of Extinction
The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) with whom we have a five-year working agreement launched a programme called EDGE in March 2007 to support wild mammals, which are on the edge of extinction. If you want to visit the website click on www.wildcamels.com and on our website look for links to ZSL/EDGE. There is also a regular Blog on the ZSL EDGE website. Under the EDGE criteria the wild Bactrian camel is listed as the eighth most critically endangered wild mammal in the world. The two WCPF sponsored EDGE fellows, are Yad Adiya in Mongolia and Yuan Lei in China. They have completed their fieldwork surveys in their respective territories – The Great Gobi Specially Protected Area ‘A’ in southern Mongolia and the Lop Nur Wild Camel National Reserve in China. On Yuan Lei’s last survey on behalf of the Edge Programme in China the team encountered 142 wild Bactrian camels which is excellent news and highlights the need for an accurate survey to establish whether there are more than 600 wild Bactrian in China.

DNA TESTING
An Email just received from Dr Pamela Burger the University of Veterinary Medicine. Her student Katja Silbermayr is doing her post-graduate work on wild Bactrian camel DNA genetic testing using domestic and wild Bactrian camel samples collected from China and Mongolia and she states that:

As for the divergence between wild and domestic Bactrian camels. These
data (1.9%) also give us the argument that the wild Bactrian camel is
truly wild, since they cannot be feral when the split occurred
estimated at 700,000 (0.7 million) years ago, long before domestication took place.
This appears to justify all the hard work that the WCPF has put in over the past 12 years to bring to international attention, that the wild Bactrian camel is truly wild, and not a descendant of Silk Road runaways. I have replied as follows to Dr Burger and await her reply with great interest:

Your findings on the variation between the wild and domestic camels which indicate that the wild Bactrian camel is a truly wild animal which split 700,000 years ago is excellent news for us. It endorses our unproven beliefs and theories and gives us an even greater incentive for ensuring the protection of this critically endangered animal.
Two questions:
1. Is there now a real justification for saying this either is, or could be, a separate species? I should be very interested to have your view on this. If the answer is 'could be', how much more work do you need to undertake before you can conclusively say that the wild Bactrian camel is a separate species of camel?
2. If your answer to this question is, 'more work is needed to be undertaken,' what other samples do you now need in order of priority to continue your work and from which areas: e.g. China or Mongolia, wild or domestic, Dromedary or Bactrian. If you could let me have a priority list, I will do my best to get samples to you as soon as I can. It would be a huge boost to our work if one day the evidence conclusively proved that the wild Bactrian is a separate species

BACTRIAN CAMELS ACROSS EUROPE
FUND RAISING AND PUBLIC AWARENESS
WCPF came to the conclusion that the walk across France with two domestic Bactrians to raise funds was going to cost more than we could hope to raise. The cost of buying and training the camels, flying from Mongolia to France two Mongolian herdsmen, the threat of being held up by Blue Tongue restrictions, the effects of the credit crunch on people who had volunteered to walk with the camels added up to too much. But in the process of attempting to organize it we discovered French Bactrian camel enthusiasts Paul and Sarah Bird who will try to help us to put our message across in France to school-children and the general public. www.lamaisondeschameaux
In conjunction with the Birds we have translated The King of the Gobi, our children’s book about the wild Bactrian camel, into French. Funds at the moment to not allow us to print it and we are looking for a sponsor.

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWORK (WCN)
WCN has invited me back to Los Altos in California to participate in the fund-raising event for endangered species. The schedule is:
Friday, October 2 - 6:00-9:00pm
Friday evening will be an invitation-only event for WCN's top donors and you. Dr. Jane Goodall will attend this event as a special guest.
Saturday October 3 - 10:00am - 6:00pm
The Wildlife Conservation Expo is your chance to present your work to the public. You'll have a 30-minute speaking slot and two tables to exhibit your project's literature, sell merchandise and meet with potential supporters. Speakers will be in two theatres with a 15-minute break in between each talk from 10:00am to 6:00pm. Dr. Jane Goodall will be the Keynote speaker and we expect to have more than 900 people. The Expo will be held at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco.
Sunday, October 4 - 12:00 - 7:00pm
The Conservation Garden Party. This is your chance to talk with donors you've met over the weekend. We expect approximately 200-250 throughout the day, and 125 at any one time. Attendees will include many of WCN's top donors and likely some new potential supporters as well. With our Honorary Life Patron Dr. Jane Goodall DBE. there championing our cause, I sincerely hope we manage to raise substantial funds for the wild Bactrian camel.

SPONSORSHIP: CAPTIVE WILD BACTRIAN CAMELS
First of all thank you to all twelve members and supporters who have already generously sponsored a young wild Bactrian camel. We now have pictures of the young camel calves on our updated Website. However, to continue to protect the captive wild Bactrian camels especially the three new calves, to manage the pasture areas and water, we must have our herdsman and his assistants there on site full-time now. During the winter and spring months it is necessary to buy additional hay. This is expensive and we have already mentioned. Whenever possible we purchase hay locally, to provide badly needed income and to cut the high transport costs. Expensive Medicines are required for the females and their off-spring during the first five years. And the Project Director, Bilgee works continuously with the local communities and schools involving them in the work of the Breeding Centre, and ensuring they understand the importance of protecting the wild Bactrian camel a Mongolian Red Book listed endangered species. The good news is the success of the Breeding Centre Project to date, however this also means more pregnant females. As a result we urgently require at three more sponsors to cover the costs of three new calves.

TALKS
I am always giving talks to both raise awareness of the plight of the wild Bactrian camel and funds for the work of the Foundation. Remember, we have the rights to show that wonderful film, ‘The Weeping Camel’ to raise money for the WCPF. If any member has a hall or suitable site which they can hire, then we can arrange a showing of the film, so Ideas please.

John Hare’s – MY NEW BOOK – THE MYSTERIES OF THE GOBI
‘The Mysteries of the Gobi: Searching for Wild Camels and Lost Cities in the Heart of Asia’ was published by I.B. Tauris, (February 2009). Book price is £18.00 and it has been well received. Members can order at a discount price £15.00 from me direct.

WEBSITE CHANGES
We have recently updated the http://www.wildcamels.com website and now have a Shopping Page. Please visit the site. Payment by Paypal; UK/Euro/USDCheque or bank transfer. Details are on the website.

NEW RANGE OF GOODS - KNITTED ITEMS – CHOCOLATE BACTRIANS
We have range of unique items knitted by our herdsman’s wife from the wild Bactrian camel hair collected from the Mongolian Breeding Centre are available.
We have for £3.50 each solid milk or dark Bactrian camel chocolates, approximately 5 inches long, which are hand-made for us in Cornwall. We have already sold out three times. Order through harecamel@aol.com or from direct from WCPF address: School Farm, Benenden, Kent. TN17 4EU.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL
Most members have renewed their annual membership for 2006/2007/2008, but if you haven’t, please send £20.00 (or its equivalent in foreign currency). You can go onto the website www.wildcamels.com and pay using Paypal.
If you are paying in US dollars or Euros you can also transfer funds direct into the WCPF’s Euro or US dollar accounts. Please email us and ask for the bank transfer details. After 10 years we have decided to raise our subscription by £5 to £20/$40/25 Euros from 2008. Could members kindly adjust their payments accordingly?

EMAIL ADDRESS
We would like to cut the cost of postage so, PLEASE IF YOU HAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS THEN SEND IT TO US TO SAVE POSTAGE COSTS. PLEASE REMEMBER TO LET US KNOW IF YOU CHANGE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS. COPIES OF THE NEWSLETTER ARE ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE WEBSITE www.wildcamels.com

Thank you once again for all your generous and highly valued support.

Yours faithfully,

John Hare FRGS
Founder and Chairman of the WCPF

New Bactrian camel at Safari Park

2008-04-07T11:19:00.003-07:00

As spring arrives, so do new born baby Bactrian Camels....

Surprise addition at safari park
A baby camel, who was born without its keepers even knowing, has gone on public show near Stirling.

A baby camel, who was born without its keepers even knowing, has gone on public show near Stirling.

The 120lb, four-foot tall, furry camel is now big enough to be allowed to explore his home and be seen for the first time by visitors.

Keepers had not known his mother was pregnant until they found the newborn.

To read the full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/tayside_and_central/7326547.stm

Bactrian Camels as Pets

2008-03-31T08:19:00.003-07:00

Most people enjoy the company of a cat or dog as a pet companion. But now new studies by camel owners have shown that perhaps a Bactrian Camel is a better bet as mans best Friend...

Gentle giants: Camels make great pets, owners say
By GUY KEELER
McClatchy Newspapers

"You could spend a lifetime looking for an animal companion as friendly as a dog, smart as a fox and strong as a horse. Or you could get yourself a camel.
That’s what Jennifer and Geoff Dean did three years ago — and onlookers have been raising their eyebrows ever since.

“People ask, ‘Why own a camel?’ ” says Geoff Dean, a high school math teacher. “And I say, ‘Why own a dog?’ ”
For the Deans, who live north of Sanger, Calif., owning a camel is as natural as grass and sunshine. To them, anyone who has to ask why camels are special hasn’t looked into the eyes of one of these enchanting creatures...."

To read the full article: http://www.kansascity.com/238/story/545594.html

Endangered Animals from the Desert

2007-12-18T09:24:00.000-08:00

Along with the Bactrian Camel many other unique species living in our deserts are becoming endangered. the Jeroba, the "Mickey Mouse of the desert" now joins the Bactrian camel on the endangered species list....

"IT WOULD not look out of place in a Disney cartoon or perhaps being chased through the desert by Wile E Coyote if ever the Road Runner needed a stand-in.
With its huge ears, big black eyes and kangaroo-like legs, way out of proportion to its mouse-sized body, it is little wonder that the nocturnal long-eared jerboa has been described as the "Mickey Mouse of the desert".

But the insect-eating rodent's fate is no laughing matter, as conservationists pointed out yesterday: it is one of ten species in grave danger of becoming extinct if nothing is done to help them."

To read the full article:http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/ViewArticle.aspx?articleid=3588837

Four New Baby Camels Born

2007-06-01T10:37:00.000-07:00

One hump or two? Well, eight actually...
Whipsnade unveils four baby camels
http://www.bedfordtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?sectionid=543&articleid=2884005

One hump or two? It's strictly two apiece for new baby camels who are finding their feet at Whipsnade Zoo.

Four baby camels were born at the zoo in April, and they are now getting to know the rest of the herd.

The two-humped Bactrian camel calves - three females and one male - are called Genghis, Georgia, Gypsy and Ginny.

Wild camel sponsors needed

2007-05-14T08:59:00.000-07:00

SPONSORSHIP: CAPTIVE WILD BACTRIAN CAMELS www.wildcamels.com
From their news letter-
"We now have pictures of the young camel calves on our updated Website. However, to continue to protect the captive wild Bactrian camels and manage the pasture areas and water, we must have our herdsman and his assistants there on site at all times to oversee the camels' welfare. During the winter and spring months it is necessary to buy hay for them. This is expensive to buy and also to transport to the site. Medicines are required for the females and their offspring during the first five years. As the number of camels increase each year, we have additional costs of identifying and fencing new areas for pasture; and the Project Director, Bilgee works continuously with the local communities and schools to ensure they understand our work.
The good news is the success of the Project so far, however this also means more pregnant females. As a result we urgently require at least five more sponsors. "

Also according to the newsletter- The ZSL launched a programme called EDGE in March to support wild mammals which are on the edge of extinction. If you want to visit the website click on www.wildcamels.com and on our website look for links to ZSL/EDGE. Under the EDGE criteria the wild Bactrian camel is listed as the eighth most critically endangered mammal in the world.

U.K. Scientists bring awareness to the need for preservation of Bactrian Camels and other endangered species

2007-02-05T10:51:00.000-08:00

As forests are diminished and global warming increases it seems that more and more of our world’s creatures our disappearing and nearing extinction. A team of British scientists seem to want to put a stop to this as they launch a new conservation project to help protect and create awareness for some of these disappearing animals. Near the top of the list of better known critically endangered animals that needs protection is the Bactrian Camel. With fewer than 1,000 left in the wild there is a dire need to raise awareness to the protection of the few that are left to ensure their future survival…

for more info on wild Bactrian camels visit www.wildcamels.com and also check out our book
Bradford and the Journey to the Desert of Lop and his quest to save the wild camels http://www.wildheartranch.com/ourBrands/ob_desertOfLop.htm

World: U.K. Scientists Work To Save 'Lesser-Known' Mammals
By Antoine Blua
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/01/98806241-0842-4BDF-A39C-C2AD6454EC76.html

January 30, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- British scientists have launched an ambitious conservation project that focuses on some of the world's rarest and most extraordinary mammals. The plan includes some animals traditionally overlooked by scientists, and will allow the public to track and donate to individual projects via a new website. Iran and Central Asia provide habitats for several species on the list.
The Zoological Society of London has compiled the list. It comprises 100 of what it calls Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) species. These mammals were selected because of the degree of danger that they face, and because they have few relatives left alive in the wild -- making them some of the world's most genetically unique mammals. Ben Collen, a member of the EDGE team, says this makes their preservation particularly urgent. "These species are unique and irreplaceable," Collen told RFE/RL. "So if they become extinct, there will be nothing else like them on the planet. A lot of these species have very unique, very individual traits which add a lot to biodiversity and ecosystem function." Some Better-Known... The Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus), for instance, differs from all other mammals in the shape of its blood cells, which are oval instead of circular. There are fewer than 1,000 individuals surviving in the wilds of northwest China and Mongolia -- even. (There are more than 2 million "domesticated" Bactrian camels in Central Asia, but conservationists are careful to distinguish between wild animals in their natural habitat and domesticated animals.) The onager (Equus onager) is remarkably well adapted to semi-desert regions -- which are hot during the day and cool at night, with little rainfall. It's also the swiftest of all the equids family -- which includes horses, zebras, etc. -- and has been recorded running at speeds of up to 70 kilometers per hour. There are an estimated 570 onagers in two protected areas of Iran. Some of the species on the list are better known, such as China's giant panda. ...And Lesser-Known Creatures But many have so far been overlooked -- either because they are in poorly explored regions, they are among species in which scientists have shown little interest, or their habits make them difficult to study. Such species include two other animals living in Iran: Setzer's mouse-tailed dormice (Myomimus setzeri) and the Iranian jerboa (Allactaga firouzi). The jerboa resembles a mouse, with long hind legs that allow it to jump up to three meters in a single bound. It is known from only a single, small population living on a mountain steppe in southern Iran. The desert dormouse (Selevinia betpakdalaensis) occurs to the west and north of Lake Balkhash in Kazakhstan. Unlike other dormice, it sheds the upper layers of its skin when it moults. The head of the Mammals Laboratory at the Kazakh Zoological Research Institute, Amanqul Bikenov, tells RFE/RL that little is known about the desert dormouse. "In the last 50 years, scientists have been able to catch [just] 40 of them," Bikenov says. "The particularities of this animal [are that] it lives in hiding [and] it is a nocturnal animal. Its biology hasn't been researched yet. For science, this animal is very important; researchers around the world are interested in it."Many of the species are the only representatives of groups that have otherwise died out. The saiga antelope -- known for its bulging eyes and a bulbous, tubular nose to filter out dust and warm [or] cold air before it reaches the animal's windpipe -- is the only surviving representative of its genus. Eleanor Milner-Gulland, a leading expert of the species, has argued for efforts to inform locals on the cultural and economic benefits of saigas. "They have this great cultural interest. They're a nomadic species [and] they are a symbol of the steppes," Milner-Gulland says. "There's that kind of link between people's heritage and this piece of wildlife. And then, on the...more practical side, the saiga was until 10 years ago a really valuable and productive part of the ecosystem. It produced meat, horn, [and] skins. If the population was large enough, that could start again. There could also be potential for tourism [and] trophy hunting. So the saiga could pay its way if it were allowed to recover as a component of a sustainable steppe that could go on to the future." The saiga inhabits open dry steppe grasslands and semi-arid deserts in Russia's Republic of Kalmykia, as well as Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Some herds migrate to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Over the last decade, its numbers have plummeted from more than 1 million to around 30,000. Sense Of Urgency EDGE team member Collen says the Persian mole (Talpa streeti) -- an animal that runs backward almost as freely as forward -- may already be gone, like some others on the list. "This is a species that is known from one individual, found in northwest Iran. We urgently need to survey this area to find out whether they still exist." All the EDGE species are threatened either by hunting or habitat destruction due to human activity. In close collaboration with local scientists and biodiversity groups, members of the EDGE team will propose conservation plans for each species on the list. Their goal is to have conservation strategies in place for all 100 species within five years. Organizers are also reaching out to the public for help. Donors are invited to sponsor a species, and track its conservation progress through blogs and discussion groups on the project's website.

wild camel protection - mining threat

2007-01-08T17:06:00.000-08:00

as reported - in Shanghai Daily
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=302169&type=National

Endangered camels under threat as miners encroach
2007-1-9

MINING, prospecting and road building in a nature reserve in northwest China are sharply shrinking the habitat of wild camels.

The camels could vanish from the region if they are not better protected, according to experts from the area.

A 10-day scientific survey found that the domain of the two-humped Bactrian camels has shrunk to a "very small" mountainous area in the Lop Nur State Wild Camel Nature Reserve, southeast of Turpan, in eastern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

"If the remaining habitat is not protected, the wild Bactrian camels may disappear in Xinjiang," said Yuan Lei, one of the seven-member team that conducted the survey last month.

Researchers saw only four wild Bactrian camels, three adults and a young one, said Yuan, who is also a senior engineer with the nature reserve.

Yuan blames mining and resource prospecting within the reserve for scaring the camels away and harming their habitat.

Iron, copper, zinc and lead mines have opened in the past couple of years in the nature reserve, and Yuan said he doesn't have enough power to stop them.

"The problem is how to coordinate resource development with environmental protection," said Yuan. "The reserve doesn't have a police force, so it's difficult to stop illegal mining and prospecting."

During the recent survey, Yuan handed out literature to miners and prospectors hoping to raise their awareness of how to protect the environment.

Yuan says most of the mining is taking place around the perimeter of the reserve, but some mines have opened in key protected areas. A 60-kilometer road has also been built in the reserve.

Yuan believes the camels have been pushed to the southwest of the 780,000-square-kilometer reserve.

The wild Bactrian camels live in both northwest China and Mongolia, where their numbers are estimated at 800.

Previous estimates in the Lop Nur Nature Reserve put their numbers at 400, but Yuan isn't sure if that many remain there now.

The wild camel has been labeled "critically endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

They are also on China's list of most protected wild animals.

more info

www.wildcamels.com

camel milk saves lives ... and is great in chocolate

2006-12-19T17:43:00.000-08:00

Nomads survive on camel milk for one month

article from Nigerian Tribune
http://www.tribune.com.ng/20122006/features.html

To read all about the health benefits thought to be found in camel milk as well as how it is being marketed in chocolate as well-
" people consider it a powerful tonic against many diseases. The Gulf Arabs believe it is an aphrodisiac. From the Western Sahara to Mongolia demand is booming for camel milk."

Bactrian camels from Winnipeg Zoo off to Calgary

2006-12-11T21:02:00.000-08:00

The Winnipeg Assiniboine Park Zoo's three female Bactrian Camels are being sent to the zoo at Innisfail, Alberta, where Kleaver, their male Bactrian camel is anxiously awaiting his harem . The hope is to mate and reproduce the wild bactrian camels in captivity

http://winnipegsun.com/News/Winnipeg/2006/12/11/2736877.html

From the article "The Zoo has maintained Bactrian Camels since 1961, during which time two other males, Buddy and Ringo, sired 18 offspring. The Assiniboine Park Zoo is the only zoo in North America, and one of the few in the world, to display all six members of the camel family. Well-adapted to the cold, all six species are on display everyday throughout the winter. "

for more info on the critically endangered wild Bactrian camel visit
www.wildcamels.com

Holiday gift ideas - all about camels

2006-11-24T07:46:00.000-08:00

our book at amazon -http://www.amazon.com/Bradford-Journey-Desert-Dawn-Zant/dp/0976176823
Bradford and the Journey to the Desert of Lop [BOX CALENDAR] (Hardcover)
by Dawn Van Zant, Alexander Levitas (Illustrator) "When the Sandman comes to visit you tonight, you need to listen closely as you close your eyes and drift off to sleep..." (more)
Key Phrases: wild camels, Desert of Lop, Lop Nor
(4 customer reviews)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
List Price: $19.99
Price: $13.59 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $6.40 (32%)

Availability: In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Only 3 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Another great idea- adopt or sponsor a wild camel at www.wildcamels.com
and save a wild bactrian camel and help continue their valuable research and help save this animal from extinction

our plush bactrian camels - Judy - now go to the Zoos to educate kids

2006-11-09T10:58:00.000-08:00

Currently our Bradford and the Journey to the Desert of Lop books and camels are available at the gift stores at the Calgary Zoo and the Alaska Zoo - since both zoos feature real Bactrian camels on exhibit

to see a Bactrian camel up close and personal here in North America - visit one of these zoos and don't forget to learn more at the www.wildcamels.com

News of Bradford and the Journey to the desert of lop makes it to China

2006-11-06T20:09:00.000-08:00

China Biz website picked up news on the tale of Bradford and the Journey to the desert of Lop

It brings it one step closer to the people of the desert of Lop to know their story is being told

http://www.cbiz.cn/release/showrelease.asp?id=3377

Bradford and the Journey to the Desert of Lop Brand is the Magical Tale of a Boy's Journey into China's Gobi Desert

- www.HorseToys.com, an online children’s retailer for plush toys and books, is pleased to introduce its online selection of children's toys and books in a translated version of the site in Simplified Chinese at http://www.horsetoys.com/CN/cn_default.htm. As online toy and book sales rise, offering the site in multiple languages increases the consumer base for Horsetoys. The brand of toys and books "Bradford and the Journey to the Desert of Lop" is an original heartfelt line about a young boy’s journey into China's Gobi Desert to save the last wild camels on earth. On his magical journey into the vast Gobi, he encounters lost treasures, fossils, desert nomads and discovers the Bactrian camels of the Desert of Lop that may also hold a cure for cancer and other diseases.

Reviews

2006-08-24T23:04:00.000-07:00

http://www.rebeccasreads.com/reviews/03chi/03vand56.html
Bradford & the Journey to the Desert of Lop
Dawn Van Zant
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2005 Wild Heart Ranch Inc.
ISBN: 0976176823

Cancer patient Brad & the Sandman take a magical trek to discover the secrets of the heart.

Dedicated to nine year old Bradford Lawless, a true warrior at heart & his battle with cancer (Ewing's Sarcoma) this tale combines elements of his real life woven into a magical journey of hope.

“When the Sandman comes to visit you tonight, you need to listen closely as you close your eyes & drift off to sleep. It is a tale of magic that lives in the desert, of buried ancient treasures, vanishing wild camels, forgotten people & the courage of a small unlikely warrior destined to be their guardian.”

Come meet a boy as he does battle with cancer & dreams of what his purpose in life is.

Come away with him, when the Sandman visits, to the ‘ends of the Earth’ where once sea covered the land & dinosaurs lived, where eagles fly & herds of camels & asses (donkeys) roam the vast orange dunes, & people are far & few between.

Come listen to the stories the grains of sand have to tell, of history & kings, treasures & mysteries, as Bradford searches for his purpose.

Bradford and the Journey to the Desert of Lop is a lyrical, lively bedtime tale, filled with vivid images & magical insights.

The bold & bright illustrations are by Alexander Levitas, who lives on a kibbutz in Israel & knows something of deserts.

In researching for this book Dawn Van Zant learnt about the last of the true wild Bactrian camels - Camelus bactianus ferus - from John Hare, founder of the Wild Camel Protection Foundation (www.wildcamels.com) with Jane Goodall as its patron. Their sole aim is to protect these endangered animals & their fragile habitat in the Gobi & Gashun Gobi deserts of Northwest China & Southwest Mongolia in the hopes that their immune system may hold answers to research in arresting diabetes & cancer.

Do contact WildHeartRanch.com for a plush & cuddly Bactrian camel Judy to hug while reading this tale of magic & hope. Wild Heart Ranch is a publishing, entertainment & toy company which creates non-violent toys & products based on original ideas, stories & characters that offer light & magic to children's lives.

More from Dawn Van Zant:
No More Night Mares: A Dream of Freedom
I Sea Horses: From Sky to Sea
(02/26/06)

Rebecca

Zoroaster the prophet , named " Old camels "

2006-08-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

Zoroaster was an ancient prophet named based on the
compound in the Avestan language, of zarəta- "old" and uštra "camel", translating to "having old camels, the one who owns old camels". The first part of the name has also been translated as "yellow" or "golden", from the Avestan zaray, (Modern Persian zærd) giving the meaning "[having] yellow camels".

A more romantic, but inaccurate, translation of the name, in the past has been "[bringer of the] golden dawn", based on the mistaken assumption that the second part of the name is a variant of the Vedic word Ushas meaning "dawn".

This last translation seems to have derived from a desire to give a more fitting meaning to the prophet's name than "owner of feeble camels".

His prophecy and relgion cannot be accurately dated and range from 1400 BC to 485 BC
His background is said to be Bactrian - as the bactrian camels are named after.

His philosophy- Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds.

There is only one path and that is the path of Truth.

Do the right thing because it is the right thing to do, and then all beneficial rewards will come to you

The spiritual power and hope of the bactrian camel

2006-08-11T21:42:00.000-07:00

Doing some research tonight on bactrian camels, I found this project and under the current circumstances of war in the Middle East and recent terrorism threats - this was heartwarming and welcome.
Learning about the wild camels has been a very spiritual journey for me and also for others -

Please read about hope for peace and nomadic life with camels-
The Silk Road Project
This project promotes Culture, Education, Bio diversity, Sustainability and Integrity

http://gittaohan.tripod.com/id2.html

Gittaohan is a collaboration Project group comprising people of nine nations and six religions that promotes an international message of peace and sensibility. We research and share this message on multiple levels: # The truthful way of Nomadic Cultures. # The respectful and ecological use of animals, training with non-violent techniques. # The connection between human and animal for human psychological, health and educational benefits. # The value of travel for the correct exchange and understanding of culture for a global evaluation of humanism. # Educating and sharing with children, who will put into practice this global message of unity and diversity. # Protection and Husbandry programs for the Bactrian camel. These are issue we in the Gittaohan project feel very strongly about and we are constantly researching to open relations with other people with compassion, knowledge and interest to build the consciousness of this way of life. We invite all to share the experience with our beautiful animals and hope to provide a network to help ensure this style of life remains a possibility We travel the old Silk Road, following the steps of all the courageous caravans and famous philosophers, educators, researchers and prophets before us. Gittaohan travels to schools, organisations and festivals and receives hundreds of people in their camp everyday. For twenty years Gittaohan has made two full lengths of the Silk Road from Europe to Asia. We have deep knowledge of the cultural reality and traditions of the Silk Road and we hope to share the knowledge we have. All cultures, classes and societies are welcome to contribute to the message for an alternative and truthful solution

Judy and the Chimps

2006-06-19T14:24:00.000-07:00

I recenlty read about a non profit dedicated to giving lab chimpanzees a better life . After reading that several of them were afraid to go to sleep at night , I contacted them and we are sending them some of our favorite bedtime plush toys- the cuddly plush" Judy" wild bactrian camel from our book - Bradford and the Journey to the desert of Lop.

To learn more about Save the Chimps- visit- http://www.savethechimps.org/about.asp
and see why were compelled to reach out

Gobi- Taklimakan Ancient lost city

2006-05-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

Ancient city reveals life in NW China desert 2,200 years ago

Chinese and French archaeologists claim to have discovered the ruins of an ancient city which disappeared in the desert in Northwest China more than 2,200 years ago.

The ancient city, shaped like a peach, is located in the center of the Taklimakan Desert, the second largest shifting desert in the world, covering a total area of 337,600 square kilometers, in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
full story :
">http://english.people.com.cn/200605/22/eng20060522_267664.html">

I would like a camel milk chocolate please

2006-04-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

camel milk- even a new kind of camel milk chocolate could be on its way-
Read more :

camel milk: Surmounting a few production humps
Thursday, 20 April 2006,
Press Release: United Nations
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00337.htm

By surmounting a few production humps, camel milk could bring in billions – UN
Developing camel dairy products such as milk can not only provide more food to people in arid and semi-arid areas but also give nomadic herders a rich source of income, with a $10 billion world market entirely within the realm of possibility, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

“The potential is massive. Milk is money,” FAO’s Dairy and Meat expert Anthony Bennett said in a review of camel milk potential, noting that the agency is hoping donors and investors will come forward to develop the sector not only at the local level but helping it move into lucrative markets in the Middle East and the West.

“No one’s suggesting intensive camel dairy farming, but just with improved feed, husbandry and veterinary care daily yields could rise to 20 litres,” he added, noting that at present production is a low-tech business with a meagre five litres a day considered a decent yield.

Since fresh camel milk fetches roughly $1 a litre on African markets, that would mean serious money for nomad herders who now have few other sources of revenue.

From the Western Sahara to Mongolia demand is booming for camel milk, but there just isn’t enough to go round. State-of-the art camel rearing is rudimentary, and much of the 5.4 million tonnes of milk currently produced every year by the world population of some 20 million camels is guzzled by young camels themselves.

To devotees, camel milk is pure nectar. While slightly saltier than cows’ milk, it is three times as rich in Vitamin C as its bovine equivalent. But tapping the market involves surmounting a series of humps in production, manufacturing and marketing.

One problem lies in the milk itself, which has so far not proved to be compatible with the UHT (Ultra High Temperature) treatment needed to make it long-lasting. But the main challenge stems from the fact that the producers involved are, overwhelmingly, nomads, a situation similar to a tomato cannery depending on suppliers who regularly disappear, taking their tomatoes with them.

Another problem is that nomad camel herders are often reluctant to sell their spare milk, which tradition reserves for honoured guests and the poor. It has been noted, however, that such reluctance can be dispelled by the offer of a good price.

Jumping on the camel train, Vienna-based chocolatier Johann Georg Hochleitner intends to launch this autumn a low-fat, camel milk chocolate with funding from the Abu Dhabi royal family, making it in Austria from powdered milk produced at Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates, then shipping 50 tons back to the Gulf each month.

“It sounds crazy but it’s a huge project. There’s a potential market of 200 million in the Arab world,” Mr. Hochleitner says.

Baby bactrian camel born in Wales

2006-04-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

Colwyn Bay Welsh Mountain Zoo is the home to new baby camel "Scrummy" , the first bactrian camel born in Wales
http://icnorthwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/regionalnews/tm_objectid=16905899&method=full&siteid=50142&headline=scrummy-s-a-real-mummy-s-girl-name_page.html#story_continue

Scrummy's a real mummy's girl Apr 5 2006

By David Powell, Daily Post

BABY camel Scrummy makes her first public appearance at Colwyn Bay Welsh Mountain Zoo yesterday.

Scrummy became the first Bactrian camel to be born in Wales when proud mum Flanka gave birth on February 16.

Bactrian camels are highly endangered with only 1,000 remaining in the wild, and the zoo is part of a carefully controlled international captive species breeding programme.

Mum Flanka and dad Lock - named in the aftermath of the Rugby World Cup - are enjoying the company of their lively new offspring who, while cute and cuddly now, will grow to be

North Wales

Scrummy's a real mummy's girl Apr 5 2006

By David Powell, Daily Post

BABY camel Scrummy makes her first public appearance at Colwyn Bay Welsh Mountain Zoo yesterday.

Scrummy became the first Bactrian camel to be born in Wales when proud mum Flanka gave birth on February 16.

Bactrian camels are highly endangered with only 1,000 remaining in the wild, and the zoo is part of a carefully controlled international captive species breeding programme.

Mum Flanka and dad Lock - named in the aftermath of the Rugby World Cup - are enjoying the company of their lively new offspring who, while cute and cuddly now, will grow to be 2.4m (seven feet) tall and will weigh three quarters of a tonne.

Zoo director Nick Jackson said: "It is wonderful that we now have a genuine Welsh baby for our visitors to admire.

"Camels are big, beautiful and delightfully smelly creatures. They grab respect and admiration from children and adults."

Bactrian camels are the two-humped variety and are found in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia and in the Gashun Gobi in China.

They featured in the BBC's Planet Earth documentary on Sunday, when viewers watched a dramatic chase across a desert to film the timid creatures.

They are recognised by the International Union for Conservation and Nature (IUCN) as highly endangered.

for info on saving wild bactrian camels visit: www.wildcamels.com

Illegal miners threaten wild camel's survival

2006-01-17T18:34:00.000-08:00

Illegal miners threaten wild camel's survival
From Jane Macartney in Beijing

ON AN expedition in China’s remote Lop Nur desert six years ago the British explorer and camel conservationist John Hare stumbled across a valley whose rare argali sheep and endangered wild Tibetan asses had never seen man.
Returning late last year to the Kum Su spring, Mr Hare found a valley of death. Sheep skeletons lay on the ground and no living animal was to be seen. Gold-miners had found the spring and had used its water for the processing of rock with potassium cyanide to extract the precious metal. They had shot the sheep for food and left behind 74 opened four-gallon cyanide drums. Mr Hare, founder of the Wild Camel Protection Foundation, said: “You can imagine my feelings — to go into a naive animal population is so rare on this planet and to go back and to find the whole thing devastated.”

The spring lies in hills at the foot of the Arjin escarpment, in the foothills of Tibet within the Lop Nur Wild Camel National Nature Reserve that covers 65,000 sq km (25,000 sq miles) of mostly inhospitable desert in far western China. For decades this was a nuclear testing ground. Mr Hare said: “If this is not checked in the Arjin and Kunlun mountains it will be lethal to all wildlife.” It was another survey of the wild Bactrian camel, the last in the world, that had taken the explorer to the Kum Su spring. In the spring in 1999 he saw a wild camel waddle away into the desert at his approach. On his visit last year, he saw none.

Nevertheless, he believes that 650 of the double-humped camels — on the critically endangered list of the World Conservation Union since 2002 — still roam in Lop Nur. Aerial surveys to assess the numbers are impossible since the shy animals make their home in what remains a military zone. Threats to the survival of the dwindling herds come not only from the miners, but from hunters and wolves. There were 3,000 wild camels in 1980-81 but it is now outnumbered by the endangered panda, estimated at 1,000 still in the wild.

more info - http://www.wildheartranch.com/ourBrands/ob_desertOfLop.htm
or www.wildcamels.com

Bradford and the Journey to the Desert of Lop

2005-12-30T18:42:00.000-08:00

Bradford and the Journey to the Desert of Lop

Meet "Judy", a plush, wild Bactrian camel, from the story "Bradford and the Desert of Lop". Branded with a gold moon and star, this soft, cuddly nighttime companion is sure to send children on a magical, sleepy journey with the Sandman. This 14" soft plush toy includes a neck tag and web site info on The Wild Camel Protection Foundation, a United Kingdom registered charity, with Jane Goodall as its patron. click here

The new line of children's non violent toys and books produced by Wild Heart Ranch empowers children with cancer and brings awareness to the endangered wild Bactrian camel. The wild camels living in the far away Gobi Desert may offer a possible cure for illness based on preliminary research. The book teaches us that, "One small boy with cancer can change the world if you listen."

read more at http://www.wildheartranch.com/ourBrands/ob_desertOfLop.htm
the book at Barnes and Noble :

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=oI0FVKoCnw&isbn=0976176823&itm=3

Nuclear Testing - Desert of Lop

2005-12-26T18:29:00.000-08:00

The area , once closed off was the home of 45 tests - 23 atmospheric and 22 underground all conducted at Lop Nur Nuclear Weapons Test Base in Malan Xinjiang

Xinjiang is home to several Muslim Turkic groups including the Uighurs and the Kazakhs . Other minority ethnic groups include Hui Chinese the Kirghiz the Mongols the Russians the Xibes the Tajik the Uzbek the Tatars and the Manchus .

Wild Camels

2005-12-26T18:25:00.001-08:00

The wild Bactrian camel, the remarkable ancestor of all domestic camels lives in three separated habitats in China and one in Mongolia. The wild Bactrian camel has been listed bu the IUCN in 2002 as critically endangered after years of pressure from the Wild Camel Protection Foundation. There are approximately 600 surviving in China and 350 in Mongolia making them rarer and more endangered than the giant panda. Their numbers are decreasing each year. The majority of these shy animals live in the parched Gashun Gobi (Lop Nur) desert in the south eastern area of the Mongolian. The wild Bactrian camel is a migrating species and moves across the Chinese Mongolian border.

learn more at www.wildcamels.com

New Highway for Desert in China - Silk Road Revisited

2005-12-26T18:25:00.000-08:00

Silk Road ...

Xinjiang is home to the famous Taklimikan and Lop Nor deserts. It's also home to one-fifth of China's land area. Separating it from the Tibetan Plateau to the south are the soaring Altun and Kunlun mountains. To its west are Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan; to the north, Russia; and to the east, Mongolia and the rest of China.

At a cost of 0.8 billion yuan ( about 100 million US dollars), the Chinese Ministry of Communications is building China's longest domestic highway across the Taklimakan desert in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to People's Liberation Army Daily as announced in June of 2005
The "Aral to Hotan desert road" will be 424 kilometers in length. It will start at the city of Aral and end at the Hotan prefecture in the county of Lop.

The original route of the Silk Road , across the Lop Nor Desert and skirting the southern edge of the Taklimikan Desert , was abandoned in favour of a northern route due to the peril involved in crossing the Lop Nor.