Taken in 2004, this wild camel was the last survivor of the six wild camels used to kept in Beijing Zoo. It died not long after.
Although a poor photo, it is the only wild camel photo of me, because most of the time the wild camel was kept off-exhibit.
What were the problems encountered in keeping them? Has there ever been any thought getting them re-established in captivity - maybe somewhere else in China?
What were the problems encountered in keeping them? Has there ever been any thought getting them re-established in captivity - maybe somewhere else in China?
According to my childhood's reading, when these wild camels arrived at Beijing Zoo from the wild, the zoo fed them fine feed and plenty of water, use the method of feeding domestic camels to feed them, then several of them died soon. Then the zoo learnt that these camels couldn't subsist under a comfortable circumstance, and changed their diet to a very rough feed and provided little water, and moved them to a quiet off-exhibit area (the camel could only be seen by the visitors when it stood on the hill in its enclosure), then the situation improved.
Beijing Zoo has no plan to reestablish the wild camels, Urumqi Zoo has a wild camel, but it seems that they don't have a breeding plan; Wuwei Zoo in Gansu Province wants to establish a wild camel population, but they fails to find any pure-bred wild camels.
According to my childhood's reading, when these wild camels arrived at Beijing Zoo from the wild, the zoo fed them fine feed and plenty of water, use the method of feeding domestic camels to feed them, then several of them died soon. Then the zoo learnt that these camels couldn't subsist under a comfortable circumstance, and changed their diet to a very rough feed and provided little water, and moved them to a quiet off-exhibit area (the camel could only be seen by the visitors when it stood on the hill in its enclosure), then the situation improved.
Beijing Zoo has no plan to reestablish the wild camels, Urumqi Zoo has a wild camel, but it seems that they don't have a breeding plan; Wuwei Zoo in Gansu Province wants to establish a wild camel population, but they fails to find any pure-bred wild camels.
