ORDER ARTIODACTYLA: EVEN -TOED UNGULATES 421 



economic importance to the natives of the region where it occurs, 

 but apparently it is so uncommon that no special effort is made for 

 its capture. Specimens for exhibition in zoological gardens are 

 in some demand, however. Because of its restricted range and ap- 

 parent scarcity, this species is accorded complete protection by the 

 London Conference of 1933. 



G. M. A. 



Family CAMELIDAE: Camels 



This family consists of three living genera. In South America the 

 Llamas (Lama) and the Vicunas (Vicugna), each with two wild 

 subspecies, range from Ecuador to Tierra del Fuego ; all are treated 

 in Dr. Allen's volume (1942). In the Old World there is a single 

 genus (Camelus), with two species. One (C. dromedarius) is now 

 known only as a domesticated species. The other (C. bactrianus) is 

 represented by a domesticated subspecies and by a wild subspecies. 

 Only the last comes within the scope of this report. It occurs in 

 Chinese Turkestan and Mongolia. 



Wild Bactrian Camel 



CAMELUS BACTRIANUS FERUS Przewalski 



Camelus bactrianus ferus Przewalski, Third Journey in Central Asia, p. 43, 

 1883 (in Russian). ("From Tarim, Lob-nor, and Kami to southern 

 Dzungaria; from Guchen and Manas to northwestern Zaidam, Tibet." 

 Type locality restricted by Harper (1940, p. 202) to ''the border of the 

 Kum-tagh, east of Lob-nor and north of the Altyn-tagh, Chinese 

 Turkestan.") 



FIGS.: Przewalski, 1883, pi. facing p. 42; Littledale, 1894, p. 447, fig.; Hedin, 

 1903, vol. 1, pp. 353, 370, figs., pi. facing p. 366, and vol. 2, pp. 101, 102, 

 107, figs.; Leche, 1904, pp. 50, 51, figs. 60, 61; Hedin, 1904, pp. 127, 256, figs. 



The Wild Bactrian Camel still exists in restricted numbers in 

 certain desert areas of Chinese Turkestan and Mongolia. It has long 

 been a moot question as to whether this is the aboriginally wild 

 animal, or merely the feral descendant of escaped domestic stock, 

 or possibly a mixture of the two. The anatomical differences revealed 

 by a comparison of specimens lend considerable weight to the view 

 that Camelus bacterianus ferus is a genuinely wild animal, not 

 contaminated to any appreciable extent with the blood of the domes- 

 tic animal. Leche (1904, p. 60) considers the Wild Camel more 

 closely related to certain Pleistocene species than to the Domestic 

 Bactrian Camel. 



Length of skin of an old male (from Altimish-bulak, at the 

 southern base of the Kurruk-tagh) from snout to root of tail, 

 3,030 mm.; tail, 530 mm.; ear, 95 mm. In comparison with the 



