The wild Bactrian camel is probably the ancestor of all domestic two-humped camels. It is superbly adapted to life in the harsh Gobi Desert, one of the most hostile and fragile regions on earth. The species can withstand drought, food shortages and even radiation from nuclear weapons testing. Less than 1,000 individuals survive today in only four locations. Classified as Critically Endangered by the IUCN, the species continues to be threatened by hunting, habitat loss and competition for resources with introduced livestock.

The EDGE team is currently working with the Wild Camel Protection Foundation and two EDGE Fellows to collect information on the relative impacts of habitat loss, hunting, hybridisation with domestic camels, poisoning and drought on wild Bactrian camels in Lop Nur National Nature Reserve, China, and Great Gobi Special Protected Area A in Mongolia. The information collected will be used to develop a long-term conservation strategy that will provide benefits to both the wild camels and the human inhabitants of the hash desert ecosystem.

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£1000 Could cover in-country training and field costs for a local student to research and help conserve an EDGE species.