Wild Camel Protection Foundation Wild Bactrian Camel Scientific Information

The Wild Bactrian Camel (Camelus bactrianus ferus)

The wild Bactrian camel, the remarkable ancestor of all domestic camels lives in three separated habitats in China, and one in Mongolia. It is recognised by the IUCN as highly endangered. An application has been made given the continuing pressure on both the wild Bactrian camel and its fragile habitat, to have it listed as critically endangered. There are approximately 660 surviving in China and 350 in Mongolia. Their numbers are decreasing each year. In China they survive in the Gashun Gobi, one of the most hostile and fragile regions on earth.

The Great Gobi Desert is the great stony desert of North Central Asia. It covers an area which runs in an East-West direction across South East Mongolia and Northern China, from the Da Hinggan (Great Khingan) mountains to the Tian Shan. It is one of the world’s largest deserts. Situated on a plateau which has an average height of between 3,000 and 5,000 feet (910 -1,520 meters) it is made up of a series of shallow alkaline basins. The Kerulan River is the largest permanent river in the Gobi Desert, all other streams are intermittent and either flow into small salt lakes or disappear into the sand. Almost all the topsoil has been blown away by the prevailing North West winds, with much of it deposited in North Central China as loess.
Located deep within the continental interior of the Asian continent and far from moisture laden winds, the Great Gobi Desert is one of the greatest deserts in the world, and with its variation of desert types it is unique in Asia. While vegetation is sparse, the desert itself varies from rocky mountain massifs, to the flat pavement-like areas of the extremely arid desert; stony “gobi” desert plains; poplar fringed oases; vast washed-out plains and high sand dunes. Ancient fossils show that the Great Gobi Desert was once part of a large inland sea basin.

SALT WATER

The wild Bactrian camel had adapted and managed to survive in this fragile region and in China this area of the Gashun Gobi was for 45 years, the nuclear test site area of China. In spite of this, the wild Bactrian camel not only survived the effects of radiation but also bred 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 how the wild Bactrian 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.

GENE POOL

The gene pool of these wild Bactrian camels because of the isolation and lack of interbreeding with domestic Bactrian camel has 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

Samples of skin taken from the remains of dead wild Bactrian camels have been sent to scientists for genetic DNA testing. The results have been remarkable. Each skin sample has shown two or three distinct genetic differences to the domestic Bactrian camel and a 3% base difference. This answers the charge that the wild Bactrian camel is a domestic runaway. The wild Bactrian camels in the Gashun Gobi are the only herds which are completely isolated from domestic Bactrian camels. This lack of an opportunity to hybridize is what makes their survival so vital. It is these remnant herds in both China and Mongolia that the Wild Camel Protection Foundation is striving to save. In China, by establishing, with Chinese government support, the 65,000 square kilometre, Arjin Shan Lop Nur Nature Reserve and in Mongolia with the establishment of a captive breeding programme.


Since the cessation of nuclear tests, the wild Bactrian camel faces in China faces new threats; highly toxic illegal mining and the callous hunting for sport of a species which is now more endangered than the giant panda.

Wild Bactrian camel captive breeding programme

Because of the explosion of economic development in this area of China the Wild Camel Protection Foundation has also started a separate initiative in Mongolia. The Mongolian Ministry of Nature and the Environment has agreed to support the work of the Foundation and has made available land in a protected area in the South Gobi. This area has a suitable habitat for the wild Bactrian camel. The Foundation has already started the wild Bactrian camel captive breeding programme. Plans are already underway to erect several small buildings and the fences for the the holding yards. Pure wild Bactrian camels will be moved to this site later this year, to enable the breeding programme to begin in the spring of 2003. This programme, the embryo transfer programme will be under the supervision of Dr Alex Tinson, who has extensive experience with single humped camel breeding programmes in Dubal. With the creation of this captive breeding centre comes a unique opportunity to study this remarkable animal. Detailed studies of the wild Bactrian camel in either country have not be undertaken before, and so this will be a first. Areas of great interest for scientists are:

genetics;
DNA difference;
immune system;
ability to drink only salt water;
ability as a mammal to metabalise salt water and survive;
and ability to breed naturally in an area which was formally a nuclear test site.

We are working closely with a Chinese scientist, Dr Han Jianlin who works jointly at his University in Gansu and with the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, Kenya.
He has been DNA testing the wild Bactrian camel samples from the Gashun Goblin China. He has also been working with the Mongolain scientists in our programme testing blood samples from the Mongolian wild Bactrian camels to ensure all camels used in the breeding programme are pure wild Bactrian camels. He will be working with Dr Tinson and the Mongolian scientists on this captive breeding programme.
(Below is an Extract from his Paper Annexe i)

IMMUNE SYSTEM

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, and Mongolia avoided domestication and are now genetically different from the domestic Bactrian camels. Moreover, research has shown that in their embryonic stage, one-humped 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 of today.

The immune system of the single humped camel is just beginning to yield amazing secrets to scientists. increased ability to resist certain types of diseases, and the camel milk has unique properties. As the single humped camels descend from the double humped or the wild Bactrian camel, scientists have every reason to think a detailed study of the immune system of the wild Bactrian camel will yield scientific discoveries which will be of benefit to the whole of mankind.


With the development of the captive breeding centre in Mongolia it will be possible for scientists from all over the world to study this animal. We have been successful in raising funds to start the building work. However to continue the programme and set
up the facilities to enable scientific research work and study programmes futher funds are required.

Annexes

Annexe i

Application of molecular markers to the genetic characterization of wild and captive populations of two-humped camels

Jianlin H.,1,2 Olivier H.,2 Hiendleder S.,3 Rege EWO.2 and Erhardt G.3

1International Livestock Research Institute (lLRl), Nairobi, Kenya
2Department of Animal Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, P.R.
China
3Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Giessen University, Giessen 35390,
Germany

Is there a genetic differentiation between wild and domestic camels?

It is generally accepted that the genus Camelus separated with the Lama after their origin and evolution in northern American, but before the isolation of Euroasian-American mainland during the Ice Ages, 2 million years ago (MYA) (Gentry and Gentry, 1969; Mason, 1984). But little is known about the development and domestication of Came/us species after their arrival at the new inhabitant of the Old World due to only a few isolated archaeozoological records of bones available, from which the wild two-humped camel could not be distinguished from its domestic relative (Peter and Den Driesch, 1997) and even the one-humped from the two-humped species (Compagnoni and Tosi, 1978; Steiger, 1990). At present, it is considered that the genus Camelus includes three species of the domestic dromedary (Cameluem.

domedary), the domestic bactrian (Came/us bactrianus) and the wild bactrian (Camelus bactrianus ferus). The dromedary is found in northern Africa, Near East and west-central Asian (Peter, 1997; Lensch, 1996). The domestic bactrian distributes in northwestern China, Mongolia, Kazarkhstan and northern India (Su et al., 1990; Lensch, 1996; Peter and Den Driesch, 1997). The wild bactrian, which was believed as one of the species to be decended from PIio-Pleistocene forms of the genus ParacameluaaAs and was discovered for science by Prejevalsky in 1879, has been considered to be the ancestor of the domestic bactrian (Su, et al., 1990; Yuan, et al., 1999) and are existing now only in the Great Gobi in Mongolia (Tubgat and Schafler, 1992; Bannikov, 1957, 1976) and in northwestern China (Littiedale, 1894; John Hare, 1997; Yuan et al., 1999; Chen, 1984; Gu and Gao, 1985; Li and Zhao, 1989; Liang, 1986) with an endangered total population of 730 to 880 heads. But Peter and Den Dreisch (1997) recently mentioned that the status of these findings on wild bactrian are not always clear.

Concerning the domestication of dromedary and bactrian, it is believed that they were among the most recent of animals to be domesticated (Zeuner, 1963) which was due to their isolations of distribution (Wilson, 1984). However, no certain records related with the process. There are two opinions on their domestications. One considers a common ancestor, the wild two-humped wild bactrian, for the two domestic forms of bactrian and dromedary (Herr & Rohrs, 1973; Zeuner, 1963). The other suggests that two domestic forms derived from two different subspecies of C. bactrianus ferus (Kohler, 1981), or two wild species, respectively (Mikesell, 1955; Mason, 1984; Peter, 1997; Peter and Den Driesch, 1997). Zeuner(1967), Cluton-Brock(1 987) and Herre & Rohrs(1 990) also postulated that the 20th century populations of C. bactrianus ferus is descended from domestic animals that have returned to the wild as a feral herds, but they did not mention the sources of such domestic animals.

Some molecular researches recently put forward the evidence that the dromedary has a different mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence from that of the bactrian with divergence up to 10.3% base pairs (Stanley et al, 1994) and the domestic bactrian has a different mitochondrial DNA haplotype from that of the wild bactrian, C. ferus (Han et al., 1999). Even though, the relationships between the species of genus Camelus are still uncertain. The present study at the molecular level, therefore, had two major goals. The first was to investigate the evolutionary relationship of the genus Camelus by analyzing sequence variations in the mitochondrial DNA control region and explain the possible domestication process of both domesticated bactrian and dromedary. The second was to identify the correct hypothesis regarding to the existence of a real species, C. ferus, or feral domestic populations and their sources.

To investigate the molecular evidence of domestication of domesticated C. bactriaus and C. dromedanus and to find the present position of wild bactrian, C. bactrieus ferus at genetic background, the RFLPs of mitochondrial DNA D-loop amplified by PCR from 45 samples from 38 domestic bactrian from China and Kazark, 5 dromedary from Kenya and Germany and 2 wild C. ferus from China were analyzed with 16 restriction enzymes, and then the mitochondrial DNA control region of 5 selected domestic bactrians, all 5 dromedaries and 2 wild bactrians were partially sequenced. The results indicated there were three different haplotypes of these three species each and the domestic bactrian had two sub-forms of mitochondrial DNA with considerable lower variations between each other. The partial sequence showed that the bactrian camel had a significant different D-loop with a divergence at 11.5% from that of the dromedary. This indicates that both domestic bactrian and dromedary had an individual ancestor of each which may be divergent at least 2 million year ago before they came to the Old World. However, the divergence of 0-loop of C. fetus from that of the domestic bactrian camel was only 2.1% but from that of dromedary is over 9.4% which revealed that the present population of C. bactrianus ferus is probably the ancestor of today’s domesticated camel.

The usefulness of South American Camelidae’s microsatellite markers in studying the nuclear genomic polymorphisms of the Old World camelids of dromedary and bactrian was investigated (Jianlin et al, 2000). Out of the 20 primer pairs used in this study, 85% amplified the polymorphic loci of the Old World camelids. There were 11 polymorphic loci detected in dromedary from Kenya with a mean allelic number of 5.4 per locus and an average observed heterozygosity of 0.52, and 16 polymorphic loci in bactrian from China with a mean allelic number of 6.9 per locus and an average heterozygosity of 0.53. It was concluded that most New World camelids’ microsateilites are suitable for further Old World camelids’ genotyping and population genetic analysis. Therefore, it is hoped that some specific alleles could be detected from a large number of the wild camels.

Conclusion: At the mitochondrial DNA level, the wild camel differs from its relative, the domesticated camel. The identification of wild camel’s specific nuclear genomic DNA markers will be possible.

Contribution of molecular genetics to the preservation of the wild and captive populations of two-humped camels

Problems: Wild two-humped camel or bactrian Camelus bactrianus, the ancestor of the domesticated two-humped camel, is listed as highly ‘Endangered’ by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). It is only found today in four locations. Three are in northwestern China (The Taklimakan Desert, n = 40-60 and Lop Nur in Xingjiang Province,


n = = 60-80 and Arjin mountains in Gansu Province, n = 280-340) and one in southwestern Mongolia (The Great Gobi National Park, n= 350-400). To insure its protection in China the Tazhong National Desert Park in Taklimakan Desert, Arjin Wild Camel Reserve and Lop Nur Sanctuary (150,000 km2) have been created. However, camels poaching in these areas are still present and difficult to control. To insure the survival of the species in situ conservation program should be complemented by ex situ programs (e.g. captive breeding).

The inclusion of a molecular genetic component in an ex situ program could be beneficial in two major areas: (A) the choice of populations or individuals to be included in the nucleus breeding schemes and (B) the establishment of a studbook recording parentage and pedigree of the captive breeding populations for ex situ preservation program.

A. Selection of populations and individuals for captive breeding programs, genetic diversity of wild populations

1. Are the today wild camel populations genetically different from the domestic populations?

The wild two-humped, Bactrian camel was probably domesticated 5000-6000 BP in Northwest China and 45000 years ago in Northeast Iran. The consequences of domestication and subsequently human selection were more than probably responsible for a loss of genetic variations. However, genetic exchanges between wild and domestic population have been reported through the mating of wild camel males with domestic females. Also, domestic camels might have returned to the wild and became feral.

In this context a molecular genetic approach will address the following points:

a. Is the genetic diversity found today in the wild camels populations poorer or richer compare to the domestic populations?
Outcome: Identification of wild camel populations as unique resources for the genetic improvement of domestic camels
b. Are the wild camels populations genetically unique compared to the domestic populations?
Outcome: Identification of wild populations versus feral populations. Selection
of
populations for captive breeding programs
c. What is the level of inbreeding of wild camel populations?
Outcome: Selection of individuals/populations for captive breeding programs and planning the changes of breeding animals between these populations.

2. What is the level of genetic differentiation between the four populations of wild camels?
It is presently unknown if any or the four populations of wild camels are genetically distinct from each other.

Outcome: Whether or not individuals from different population could be mixed together in captive breeding programs. To optimise the captive breeding programs aiming at to conserve the genetic diversity of the wild camel.

B. Genetic relationship between individuals of the nucleus breeding schemes, parentages of captive breeding camels

A successful captive breeding program should respect as much as possible the breeding structure of the species. The wild camel is a polygynous species with one or several males mating with the females in the wild. If the natural mating system is maintained in captivity it will be essential to determine the pedigree of any captive born individual through genetic screening. in case of artificial insemination, a genetic analysis will insure that the expected parentages are correct.

One of the goals of any captive breeding program is the re-introduction in the wild of captive born individuals. An indicator of success of such re-introduction will be whether or the re-introduced animal contributes to the breeding success of the wild herds. A molecular genetic approach will allow us to trace the reproductive successes of specific individuals in the wild.

Outcome: Full pedigree of the captive breeding populations, genetic identity card. Knowledge of the reproductive success of re-introduced camels?

Mode of cooperation (molecular genetics): The molecular genetic markers for the study of bactrian camels are available and have been partly developed through collaboration between ILRI in Kenya, Giessen University in Germany and Gansu University in China (Jianlin H, Jiexia Q, Zhenming M., Yaping Z. and Wen W. (1999). Three unique restriction fragment length polymorphism of RcoR I, Pvu II and Sca I digested mitochondrial DNA of wild bactrian camel Camelus bacfrianus ferus in China. Journal of Animal Science, 77, 2315-2316 and Jianlin H., Ochieng 0., Kaufmann B., Rage JEO. and Hanotte 0. (2000). Application of new world Camelidae microsatellite primers for amplification of polymorphic foci in Old World camelids (submitted). The starting material for the genetic studies will be blood, hairs follicle, dried skin or dung. It is proposed that the molecular genetic works will be done in a full collaboration among all related international organizations worldwide and national institutions in China and Mongolia taking advantages of the molecular biological facilities and material resources.

Annexe ii

CAMELS COULD AID FIGHT AGAINST DISEASE
By John on Radowitz, Science Correspondent, PA News
A desert secret locked into the camel’s immune system could help scientists find new ways of fighting disease, it was revealed today.
Camels have a unique physiology which allows them to thrive in some of the world’s harshest environments.
They can survive dehydration which would kill any other mammal, store water in their bloodstream, use the fatty food reserve in their humps to
withstand famine, and produce milk which stays fresh for three month’s longer than a cow’s or human’s.
In addition the camel has a remarkable immune system significantly different from that of a human or other mammal, and more effective.
Camel antibodies are smaller, meaning they can penetrate deep into tissues and cells which are not normally accessible.
They are especially powerful weapons against viruses, since they completely neutralise viral enzymes which play a key role in triggering disease - an
ability conventional antibodies lack.
For this reason camels are highly resistant to many deadly viral diseases, including foot-and-mouth, Rift Valley fever, nnderpest and African horse
sickness.
Bacterial infections such as leptospirosis and tetanus also appear to affect camels less than other animals.
All these factors could be turned to human advantage in the laboratory, according to Dr Sabah Jassim, from the Zayed Complex for Herbal Research and Traditional Medicine in the United Arab Emirates.

Writing in the Biologist, the journal of the Institute of Biology, he said the structural simplicity of camel antibodies meant they should be easier to replicate artificially than human antibodies.
Their components were also more soluble, and therefore simpler to process, than antibodies from humans.
Dr Jassim wrote: "The search for new drugs is becomming critical because of the comtinuing emergence of drug-resistant microorganisms. Camelid Igs (antibodies) provide a possible route to eradicate pathogens and prevent immunosuppression diseases. They can also be used as specific and Inexpensive reagents for the rapid diagnosis of various infectious diseases.
"The camel... antibodies will find their way from the desert dands into the laboratory test tube. It is up to us and to future generations to ensure that this wonderful animal retains a special place in the heart of tomorrow's world.