Bactrian camels have been known to live for as long as 50 years in the wild. However, domesticated camels have never been recorded to live for more than The average life expectancy for wild Bactrian camels is 30 years. There is limited scholarly literature on any internal or external complications that may contribute to some of the apparent lifespan limitations.
Wild Bactrian camels typically live in herds of members, although they can occasionally be solitary or in groups up to 30 individuals. In their native range, a population density of five camels per square km has been estimated. Camels are not territorial animals. Camel herds spend the majority of their days moving from one place to another grazing.
During the snowy winter months Bactrian camels migrate to the Gobi desert steppe, a broad ecotone that borders many rivers. When the snow melts in the spring, Bactrian camels migrate back to the desert. The herds consist of one alpha adult male leading adult females and their calves. Once young males reach sexual maturity, the alpha male chases them away, forcing the young males to join a group of bachelor males. If a female in the group is approached by a wandering bachelor male, the intruding male will be chased away by the dominant male.
When the dominant male and a bachelor male come in contact, they both display an effort to intimidate their opponent. These displays include: urination, defecation, slapping their tail against their backs, and spreading their hind legs. If none of these displays deter the competitor, the males resort to fighting, includes biting and beating the ground with their feet. Males tend to not eat during the rutting season, and use their energy reserves to sustain them during this period.
Scholarly research hasn't determined why males have adopted this counterintuitive behavior. Bactrian camels are social animals.
These animals aren't territorial, and herds often cross paths to form a large assembly. However, the alpha male of each herd will continue to defend and protect the females in the herd from bachelor males. It has been observed that camels have temporary home ranges of square km and yearly ranges of several thousand square km.
Bactrian camels have a well-developed sense of sight, which is one of the primary ways that camels perceive their surroundings. There have been numerous anatomical studies that have shown that members of the genus Camelus have exceptional eyesight that arose from the unique organization of their retinas.
Camels also have well-developed olfactory senses that are extraordinarily strong and sensitive. Camel nostrils are extremely sensitive and can detect odors over long distances, up to 3 km away. Research on similar ungulates indicates that these animals use pheromones to communicate and send signals. It is thought that camels also use the same or similar pheromones. Vocal communication has been reported in camels, such as deep moans, high pitch squeaks, and groans.
Zoos report that camels are very vocal, although there is no scholarly research regarding this. Bactrian camels are omnivores, but are primarily herbivores that constantly graze on grasses. As ruminants, these camels have four separate stomachs, one of which is a three-chambered ruminating stomach. Ruminants eat their food followed by regurgitation, allowing them to chew it up a second time. Camels thrive on all desert vegetation, which includes salty, dry, thorny, and bitter plants.
Halophytic plants, which are plants that have been growing in water with a high saline concentration, are a necessary part of Bactrian camel's diet. Their dietary needs and preferences make them ideal candidates for desert life.
In the winter months, camels often push and dig under the snow to find food, a practice observed only in Bactrian camels. The humps on the back of the camel are commonly thought to store water, but in actuality the humps store fat.
The hump is made up of fatty tissues, which are used to store energy for times when nutrients aren't readily available. The energy reserves in the camels hump can be used in place of both water and food.
Camels that are well nourished have humps that stand upright and appear plump and firm. Malnourished camels that are deprived of vital nutrients have smaller and sideways leaning humps.
A camel with a nourished hump can live up to a couple of weeks without eating or drinking. Along with the energy reserves that reside in the fatty tissues of the camel's hump, the stomach is enclosed by chambers filled with water. They can also drink saline water, which in turn causes them to urinate concentrated salt. The camels' kidneys efficiently eliminate the unwanted surplus of salt before returning the water back to the bloodstream.
Camels can almost be fully sustained from the water in the vegetation that they consume. They can withstand a large amount of water loss, up to 40 percent of their body weight. Camels can consume up to 57 liters of water to fully restore their body fluid levels. When camels come across an abundant water source, they will drink large amounts of water within a matter of minutes, to refill their water storage.
This water storage will become useful during times of drought. Erdunchaolu, et al. Camelus bactrianus has evolved in a particularly harsh environment that is unfit for the majority of predators.
However, leopards Panthera pardus and wolves Canis lupus are sometimes found roaming around the colder regions of Asia.
Camels aren't the leopards and wolves' primary target because of the camels' enormous size and difficulty in killing. These predators mainly ignore camels unless they are starving. Humans Homo sapiens are the camels' biggest threat, as they are harvested for meat, hides, wool, sinews, and bone. Nowak, Camelus bactrianus naturally acquires cryptosporidiosis and gastrointestinal helminthic parasites. A wide range of helminth parasites have been found in the gastrointestinal tract of Bactrian camels.
A study was conducted in Iran that examined the occurrence of these gastrointestinal helminths. The protozoan Cryptosporidium parvum is another common parasite found in Bactrian camels. This parasite shows distinct signs including chronic loose stools, reduced appetite, weight loss, and lethargy.
The presence of these parasites has significant consequences that can often reduce the individual's lifespan. Two different approaches were used for sampling and data collection. To understand the views of pastoralists regarding camel reproduction, the accidental or convenience sampling technique, non-probabilistic in nature, suggested by Tezera , as cited in Mehari et al , was adopted.
This is due to the mobile, scattered and less accessible nature of pastoral communities. However, in the course of the sampling some snowball technique was also employed especially in Kursilla village Maine-Soroa Department. A total of 60 respondents were interviewed using structured questionnaire in a single visit formal survey conducted in July In addition, information on camel reproduction and breeding were captured, including rutting, mating, pregnancy, calving, lactation, weaning, castration, signs of reproductive disease, choice of camel breeding bull, primary purpose of keeping bulls, functions of camels, and reasons for culling camels.
The respondents in Kursilla village were more mobile, scattered and less accessible than those in Gujjo village Goure Department , hence the wide disparity in the number of respondents between the two areas 15 vs. To explore the indigenous criteria for differentiating camel ecotypes and their breeding aims, first, a focus group discussion was conducted.
Thereafter, each pastoralist was interviewed using a structured questionnaire to capture their breeding aims. Twenty-five camel pastoralists who were in the Garin Alkali livestock market participated in the study. This component of the study commenced at the beginning of the market day and ended at the close of market on August 8, The focus group discussion was guided by themes from the moderator following Marion et al Participants were allowed ample time to discuss with minimal interference from the moderator or other participants.
The responses of individual participants were recorded using a digital voice recorder and were transcribed later. As for the breeding aims, aspects captured in the questionnaire were also adopted from Marion et al Data collected included: current camel ecotype that makes up the dams in the actual herd, camel ecotype from which pastoralists prefer to choose female camels in the case of a hypothetical herd, camel ecotype of current bull, and camel ecotype of previous bull.
Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages and graphs were generated. The pastoralists interviewed were all males. Almost all respondents were married only one was single. They all had the religious form of education. On average, pastoralists have been keeping camels for In addition, pastoralists own other livestock types, including in descending order of importance sheep, cattle, goats, donkeys, horses and chickens.
The sources of acquiring camel were inheritance, purchase and gifts. Functions of camels as revealed by this study include milk for household consumption, meat, cash from sale of camels, transport, culture, draught power, hump fat for cooking, social security, and skin Figure 1.
It was observed that the sale of camel milk in the study area was viewed as a taboo. Pastoralists mainly consume the milk at home and offer it as a gesture to their guests. Reasons given for culling camels include size, conformation, colour, temperament, health condition, body condition, poor performance, old age, poor fertility, and poor pedigree Figure 2. For the camel bull, the most important reason for culling was conformation while in the case of the camel cow old age was the most prominent Figure 2.
Table 1. Multiple responses were allowed. Figure 2. They described some signs typical of the male camel in rut which includes splayed stance, extrusion of the soft palate, gurgling sound, hostility, urine splashing, tail flapping, marking territory, metallic sound, inappetence, frothing of saliva, and poll gland secretion.
They reported a mean age at first rut of 6. Some prominent signs of oestrus in the female camel were frequent urination, vulval discharge, vulval swelling, male seeking, bleating, foul vulval odour, tail raising, inappetence, grouping of camel cows, and cows mounting one another. Hand mating was reported to be the predominant mating method practiced. Bull and heifer mean ages at first mating were 5.
The mean ratio of camel cows to a camel bull during the mating season was Mean length of mating was When asked how early they can detect pregnant camels in the herd, most of the pastoralists interviewed responded that they will be able to do so within an average of They further reported a mean gestation period of Mean calving parameters reported include age at first calving 4.
They also identified the early-dry season October to December as the mating and calving periods. Pregnant camels were observed to mostly calve while lying but could also do so while standing.
Pregnant camels gave birth to singleton in all the responses recorded. No cases of twinning were reported.
The position of the foetus during calving was also reported to be anterior cranial longitudinal presentation. According to respondent pastoralists, mean lactation in the dromedary in the study area was The mean time for milk flow when the calf was made to suckle was 4. The dromedary calf was weaned between 12 and 16 months with a mean of The mean castration age was 8.
When asked whether they castrate their camels, all respondents answered in the affirmative and gave improved meat quality, control breeding and better temperament as three most important reasons for castration. Table 2. Bull age at first mating years. Heifer age at first mating years. Length of mating minutes. Time taken to detect pregnancy traditionally days. Pregnancy length months.
Age at first calving years. Length of calving minutes. Postpartum oestrus months. Calving interval months. Number of calvings in a lifetime.
Length of lactation months. Time taken for milk flow to commence minutes. Age at weaning months. The numbers in the second column are means of the outcomes of responses with respect to each question asked. Signs of reproductive disease seen by respondents since one year include abortion, still birth, swollen testes and joints, retained placenta, giving birth to weak calf, and cycling female Table 3.
Underfeeding was the main reason given by pastoralists as a probable cause of abortion in the pregnant dromedary. When asked what decision they take on frequently aborting camel, the majority of the respondents mentioned selling. As for management of the aborted foetus, the majority of them leave it on the field where the abortion took place. In the wild, Bactrian camels are at critical risk. They are hunted for sport and for their meat. They are also killed due to human conflict, as they compete with dometic camels for grazing and watering spots.
Habitat loss is another major threat to the species, as human activities like illegal mining operations spread into their habitat. There are currently about Bactrian camels in China and about in Mongolia. The Wild Camel Protection Foundation was established in , with the sole aim of protecting wild Bactrian camels.
They set up a natural reserve in China for wild Bactrian camels. Their aim is to protect its habitat in the fragile and unique desert ecosystems in the Gobi and Gashun Gobi deserts in north-west China and south-west Mongolia. Source: the San Diego Zoo.
Skip to main content Skip to footer site map. Camel: even-toed ungulate hoofed mammal in the genus Camelus. Size and Weight: The Bactrian camel is 10 to Diet: Camels are herbivores, eating grass, grains, wheat and oats. Habitat: Camels typically live in deserts, where it is hot and dry. Breeding: After a gestation period of 12 to 14 months, the female camel gives birth to one or rarely two newborns.
Becomes extremely active - collects a harem with as many as females Bannikov, Female Undergoes estrous cycle in breeding season: receptive days, non-receptive following 10 days. Bleats to indicate receptive. Approaches male, presenting hind quarters. Urinates constantly. Flips tail up and down — short quick movements. Dulaa also present in females but never extruded. Reproduction rate: 2 year interval minimum.
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