Institut für Biologie der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg

 

Date of this Version

2005

Document Type

Article

Citation

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei (2005) 9: 91-100.

Proceedings of the symposium ”Ecosystem Research in the Arid Environments of Central Asia: Results, Challenges, and Perspectives,” Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, June 23-24, 2004.

Comments

Copyright 2005, Martin-Luther-Universität. Used by permission.

Abstract

The wild Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus ferus) is critically endangered throughout its range in China and Mongolia. Yet, wild camels remain poorly understood, with knowledge derived primarily from a few short studies and anecdotal information. We initiated a wild camel conservation project to determine the reasons for camel decline and to develop a program to address those problems.

We are employing satellite telemetry to gather data on wild camel movement patterns, home ranges, habitat use, and sources of mortality. We are also collecting feces from camels and wolves to determine important forage plants and to begin to assess predation levels, respectively. In addition, steroid fecal analysis may help us evaluate wild camel reproductive physiology. Finally, we are directly observing wild camels to study their behavior.

Thus far, we successfully collared two wild camels (one male, one female). We received one year’s data on the cow before her Doppler satellite collar failed and are receiving only sporadic data from the GPS satellite collar on the bull.

Over one year, the cow covered a minimum distance of 4,527 km and her 100% minimum convex polygon (MCP) home range was 17,232 km2. Her kernel home range sizes covered 8,696 km2 for 95%, 4,031 km2 for 75%, 2,284 km2 for 55%, and 612 km2 for 25% kernels. We received only 20 GPS locations on our bull from October 10, 2003 to March 22, 2004. During that time, he travelled a minimum of 683 km and his 100% MCP home range extended over 9,191 km2. His kernel home ranges covered 7,255 km2 for the 95%, 3,741 km2 for the 75%, 1,346 km2 for the 50%, 585 km2 for the 25%, and 115 km2 for the 5% kernel. Over the past few autumns, mean group size was 10.07±1.82 wild camels/group.

We are currently analyzing the behavioral data and plan to evaluate the fecal samples once we have sufficient samples. We hope to use the knowledge derived from our work to develop a proactive conservation program working in close cooperation with the Mongolian government and other scientists and conservationists.

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