The Wild Camel Protection Foundation ( WCPF), a United Kingdom registered charity, with Dr. Jane Goodall D.B.E. as its Hon. Life Patron, was established in 1997. It is also registered in the USA as a non-profit organisation.

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 north-west China and south-west Mongolia. It is the only charitable environmental Foundation in the world which exclusively has as its aims and objectives the protection of the critically endangered wild Bactrian camel and its unique desert habitat.

Since it was established, the Foundation has raised funds from the United Natio ns Environment Programme (UNEP), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and from international organisations, private foundations, individuals, companies and very supportive and dedicated WCPF members.The Wild Camel Protection Foundation works tirelessly to obtain financial support from international organisations, individuals and companies. It is continuously fundraising and organising activities to raise the much needed funds to continue its vital work.

Lop Nur Wild Camel National Nature Reserve - China
Through the successful fundraising and pioneering efforts of the WCPF, a 155,000 square kilometre Lop Nur Wild Camel National Nature Reserve was established in 2001 and was granted National Reserve status in 2003. The Reserve is managed by the Wild Camel Reserve Office of the Xinjiang Environmental Protection Bureau.The Wild Camel Protection Foundation is the sole international consultant and adviser for the Reserve.

Wild Camel Protection Foundation - Mongolia NGO
Established by the Wild Camel Protection Foundation UK in September 2007, the WCPF Mongolian registerd NGO has as its sole purpose the protection and conservation of the wild Bactrian camel and its habitat in Mongolia. Its establishment now means the Mongolian scientists are directly involved in the local management and work currently being undertaken to protect and conserve the wild Bactrian camel in Mongolia. It also means that as a Mongolian registered NGO they can apply directly for grant funding for projects for the wild Bactrian camel or jointly with the WCPF UK. The NGO has a bank account in Ulaan Baator and the WCPF which currently funds 100% of the in-country costs in Mongolia including the Mongolian WCPF NGO work are transferred to this account. The ownership of the vehicle purchased by WCPF UK has been transferred to the Mongolian NGO and new offices have been established at the Mongolian Institute of Biology. The Steering Committee of the NGO is entirely composed of leading Mongolian scientists; Mr. Dulamtseren, Mr. Batsaikhan, Mr. Batzorig and the WCPF (UK) has a member who attends meetings in an advisory capacity. The Chairman is a leading wild Bactrian camel scientist; Mr. Adiya Yad, and he spends 80% of his time in the field working on projects relating to wild Bactrian camel conservation. The WCPF (UK) Mongolian Project Coordinator ,Mr. Enkhbileg Dulamtseren is also a member of the Steering Committee of the NGO.

MONGOLIA: CAPTIVE WILD BACTRIAN CAMEL -
BREEDING PROGRAMME
The Wild Camel Protection Foundation UK owns, manages and funds 100% the Hunter Hall Wild Bactrian Camel Breeding Centre situated at Zakhyn Us. The WCPF has an agreement with the Mongolian Ministry of Nature and Envrionent (MNE) to manage these wild Bactrian camels. There are 21 captive wild Bactrian camels at the Breeding Centre and each year more calves are born.
 
There are just over twenty-five wild Bactrian camels in captivity in the world - all of them in China and Mongolia. With so few captive animals, there is a danger given the recent IUCN report that this critically endangered species could become extinct in their natural habitats in China and Mongolia especially if their desest habitats are destroyed. It is therefore important to breed enough animals in captivity to insure against this possible disaster. As each female camel can have young at most once every two years, camel numbers can rise only very slowly. When the Przewalski horse (Equus przewalski), the Asian wild horse, died out in the wild in 1969, there were hundreds of captive horses in zoos around the world. This is not the case with the wild Bactrian camel. This is why the WCPF, after much thought and careful consultation with scientists decided that a captive wild Bactrian camel breeding programme was essential. In 2004, the programme was established in the buffer zone of the Great Gobi Strictly Protected Area 'A' at Zakhyn Us.

For the wild Bactrian camel, an animal not yet fully studied or understood by scientists, the programme provides a unique opportunity to ensure its survival into the future. By 2008, the breeding programme had been so successful that a release programme, supported by the Mongolian Ministry of Nature and the Environment and the Zoological Society of London , is currently under discussion.

WILD BACTRIAN CAMEL

Now "Critically Endangered" - Will it survive?

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 was listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in 2002 as "critically endangered" after years of pressure from the Wild Camel Protection Foundation. There are approximately 600 surviving in China and 450 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 and in the south-western area of the Mongolian Gobi . The wild Bactrian camel is a migrating species and moves across the Chinese/Mongolian international border.

International Co-operation
At an International Camel Conference in Beijing in 2000, hosted by the Wild Camel Protection Foundation, agreement was reached between the Deputy Minister from the Mongolian Ministry of Nature and Environment (MNE) and the Vice Minister of the State Environment Protection Administration (SEPA) China to co-operate to protect this trans-boundary migrating animal. A Letter of Intent whereby both countries agreed to co-operate over the protection of the wild Bactrian camel and its fragile desert ecosystem was signed.

This Letter of Intent is the first China/Mongolian agreement which involves sensitive border areas. It was also agreed that a joint data base would be20 established; scientific information exchanged, and scientists would work on joint country desert ecosystem and biodiversity projects; the training programme for the Nature Reserve staff would involve both countries; and an environmental education awareness participation programme would be set up. All these objectives are now being fully implemented.

The offices of the Convention of Migrating Species (CMS) have fully supported the work of the Wild Camel Protection Foundation (WCPF) to educate people in China and Mongolia on the importance of protecting the wild Bactrian camel.

EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY
The wild Bactrian camel has a special place in evolutionary history. The wild Bactrian camels in China and Mongolia are the remnants of herds which crossed from North America on the Bering Strait land bridge 3 - 4 million years ago. Some Bactrian camels were domesticated 4.000 years ago, but the wild Bactrian camels in the Gashun Gobi (Lop Nur) area, avoided domestication and are now genetically different from the domestic Bactrian camels. Moreover, research has shown that in the embryonic stage, one-humped, dromedary camels have a small second hump that does not develop further. This suggests that the ancestors of all camels on earth looked like the wild Bactrian camels today.

CONSERVATION: CHINA AND MONGOLIA

The WCPF is currently working in China with the State Environment Protection Administration (SEPA) and the Ministry of Nature and the Environment (MNE), Mongolia, to try and protect the wild Bactrian camel in the wild. The first phase of the work in China, was the establishment of the Wild Camel Lop Nur National Nature Reserve. The WCPF has, with the full support of the Chinese government both 0A at national and provincial levels, assisted in the establishment of this Reserve in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China.
However, it is not the total answer to protecting this unique animal. Five checkpoints have now been constructed, but much more work urgently needs to be done. More checkpoints are required and additional equipment for the Nature Reserve staff if they are effectively to manage this Nature Reserve and ensure it is sustainable. In addition there is the development of the Scientific Programme, coordinating resources and scientists in both C hina and Mongolia which will be important for the survival of the wild Bactrian camel, but could also have important implications for human survival and cancer research.

SCIENTIFIC REPORT

FUTURE PROJECTS

For the future conservation of wild Bactrian camels in Mongolia and China further research has to be urgently undertaken concerning the following issues:

1. Carrying capacity and  the large spatial requirements of the species (telemetry)  2. Co-existence of the wild Bactrian camels when it comes close to the edges of its range or protected area and therefore within the vicinity of herders and their domestic animals;
3. Action and local community involvement and co-operation when, as a result of climate change, water points disappear and wild Bactrian camels are competing with domestic Bactrian camels for limited resources of water and food (telemetry, herder camp survey, disease issues, domestic camels in the Reserves, genetics);
4. Management of the the different water points, restore water points, management of vegetation in protected areas and in the grazing areas contiguous with the protected areas (telemetry, observations and field surveys).

These are just some of the areas which require further research and for which funding is urgently required.

SALT WATER

The wild Bactrian camel has adapted and managed to survive in an area of China, the Gashun Gobi which was for 45 years, a nuclear test site. In spite of this, the wild Bactrian camel survived the effects of radiation and appeared to be breeding naturally. In some areas in the absence of fresh water it had also to adapt to drinking salt water slush. Domestic Bactrian camels will not drink salt water. Scientists are interested in undertaking studies to determine ho w the wild camel is adapting to these unique conditions. Research to date does not show conclusively how the wild Bactrian camel is absorbing the salt water, using the water and secreting the salt-water. In China the young camels after the first two years can adapt to drinking salt-water. They are the only mammals able to do so, and it is this adaptability which enables them to survive in the Gashun Gobi (Lop Nur). Even so, the camels must migrate over huge distances in pursuit of unreliable salt water sources and meagre grazing. Being stockier and with longer, darker hair than their single humped cousins, who can not tolerate the20salt water, the wild Bactrian camels are better suited to withstand extreme cold. WCPF believes that he wild Bactrian camel might yield secrets which enables man to survive on a planet where fresh water supplies are decreasing rapidly.

GENE POOL
The gene pool of these wild Bactrian camels because of the isolation and lack of interbreeding with domestic Bactrian camel, has a much greater diversity and a wider range of adaptability and capacity for random mutations. This gene pool with its unique diversity contains rich source materials for a number of scientific studies.

DNA TESTING
Samples of skin taken from the remains of dead Bactrian camels have been sent to scientists in Beijing, Nairobi and Vienna for genetic DNA testing. The results have been remarkable.

Dr Pamela Burger and Katja Silbermayr  from the Institute of Animal Breeding and  Genetics, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria have undertaken genetic and DNA research on the wild Bactrian camel   This was organised by  Dr Chris Walzer, formerly the director of Salzburg  Zoo, who is now the Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarian at the Research Institute of  Wildlife Ecology,  University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna.
 
The interim results of their work are very encouraging. Here are comments from a recent informal report given to the WCPF by Dr Pamela Burger:
 
The genetic work on the camel is not completed yet, it is now starting to become interesting. Katja found in her baccelor work two fixed differences between the wild and the dom estic Bactrian camels. That means we can now distinguish between them very exactly and even find a hybrid camel in a group of wild camels - If the  MOTHER was domestic Bactrian.
The differences are in the mitochondrial DNA ,  which is transferred only from the MOTHER to the offspring. For example, if a wild bull takes a domestic female into the wild herd,  
we can find them and their offspring.
 
We followed the maternal lineage until now and Katja is now starting to investigate the nuclear DNA (genes of mother AND father) with micro-satellites. With these nuclear DNA ana lysis we can investigate the degree of hybridization and the genetic diversity of the Mongolian and the Chinese wild Bactrian camels. She will do this for her doctorate over the next 3 years.
 
Katja Silbermayr has also sent a report of an address that she recently gave in New Zealand on wild Bactrian camel DNA. The relevant passage states:

‘the phylogenitic analysis clearly reveals that the wild Bactrian camel population differs genetically from the domestic Bactrian camel population. The knowledge of the genetic distinctiveness of the wild Bactrian camel sets the foundation of effective breeding programs and therefore provides crucial information towards the conservation of this critically endangered species.’
 
This is a highly significant statement and is of immense value to our work.