Trivia question for May-10-2011

Olivia cracks me up.  As she was researching for an animal for todays trivia, she quickly came in my office proudly announcing her candidate for the trivia.  I will tell everyone why she picked these guys tomorrow… it will make you chuckle.

These camel were identified as one of the top ten “focal species” in 2007 by the Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) project, which prioritizes unique and threatened species for conservation. Fewer than a thousand are thought to survive in the wild and the population is decreasing. A small captive population is kept in Mongolia and China.

One of the major differences between domesticated and wild camels of this species is the ability of these wild camels to drink saltwater slush, although it is not yet certain the camel can extract useful water from it. Domesticated camels do not attempt to drink salt water, though the reason is unknown.

So here are Olivia’s questions:  Tell us where the only remaining wild populations can be found and tell us how many gallons of water they can swallow in 10-minutes?  Also, tell us where these guys get their name from?

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations to Nonie for being the first to identify this camel and to answer the question about their water consumption.  Great job.  The two-humped camel is known as the Bactrian Camel.  Olivia picked it because she thought they were called the Bacteria Camels.  She can in my office asking if you get bacteria from riding them 😉

The Bactrian camel is a large even-toed ungulate native to the steppes of central Asia. It is presently restricted in the wild to remote regions of the Gobi and Taklimakan Deserts of Mongolia and Xinjiang. There are a small number of wild Bactrian camels still roaming the Mangystau Province of South West Kazakhstan. It is one of the two surviving species of camel. The Bactrian camel has two humps on its back, in contrast to the single-humped Dromedary camel.

Nearly all of the estimated 1.4 million Bactrian camels alive today are domesticated. In October 2002, the estimated 800 remaining in the wild in northwest China and Mongolia were classified as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

These guys are able to swallow and amazing 25-30 gallons of water in ten minutes.  It takes its name from the ancient country of Bactria – formerly a part of central Asia.  An easy way to remember their name is by looking at the two humps on their back which to some folks looks like the letter ‘B’.  Here is more on these resilient mammals.  Bactrian Camel

Thanks for playing along 😉