Joe and Rebecca Fossett have generously agreed to bring their racing camels from Warwickshire and there will be CAMEL POLO, CAMEL RACING and CAMEL RIDES. There will also be PIG RACING, a barbecue and many other side shows and attractions. Please make a note in your diaries to come to this colourful fund-raising event, which will be held in the setting of Hole Park, a country estate with beautiful, well known gardens, which the owners’ Mr and Mrs Edward Barham have generously made available for the event. 

Acclaimed journalist MATTHEW PARRIS is a guest of honour and we will try to get him on to the back of a camel. Camping can be arranged for people planning to stay overnight and there is also good accommodation locally.

Directions to Hole Park:

Full details of location may be found at the Hole Park Web site www.holepark.com

Staplehurst is the nearest station from Charing Cross, London. Hole Park is situated between the villages of Benenden and Rolvenden in Kent, 6 miles from Staplehurst and 55 miles south of London. The address is: Hole Park, Rolvenden, Cranbrook, Kent. TN17 4JA England. <www.holepark.com>gives details of how to get there by road and for non-internet users the A21 out of London should be taken and a left-hand turn to Goudhurst on to the A262. Through the village of Goudhurst and follow the signs for Cranbrook turning right on the B2085 by the Peacock Pub. Then follow B2086 to Benenden . Through the village of Benenden and a mile outside Benenden on the Rolvenden road, Hole Park is on the left hand side of the road and still on the B2086.

Anna Jemmett’s Report on the Zakhyn Us Breeding Centre

The following report is based on personal experiences made during a stay in the Govi-Altai province, Mongolia, from between the 3^rd of August to the 21^st of October 2011. I was able to stay in Bayantori, Zakhyn Us and surrounding areas due to the support of the Wild Camel Protection Foundation UK. This report aims to outline the daily life of the wild camel herders in the late summer months as well as observations that were made on wild camel behaviour. Possible future goals will also be mentioned.

Daily life at the breeding centre

The family Ger is situated in summer grazing pasture (co-ordinates ). The grazing is based in water available areas which are much lusher and have more grazing than the surrounding desert. The Wild camels are herded, by the family, with domesticated dromedaries. During the summer months the adult camels are turned out and free-ranging whilst the calves are tethered overnight. This management technique is used to stop the mothers leaving with the calves.  In the mornings adult females are herded towards the desert whilst calves are un-tethered but monitored throughout the day. The calves were tethered again in the early evening, before the females arrived back. The females returned in the evenings to suckle the calves, usually between 4-6pm but were occasionally later. The calves called to mothers throughout the day, calling became more frequent in the evenings towards the time mothers were due to return. On Tuesday the 20^th of August the herd (domestic and wild) were moved to further grazing. Again calves were tethered at night and females free-ranged, returning in the evenings to feed the calves. The male wild camels were not observed in the same area as the females, but seemed to be based near the enclosure at Zakhyn Us (co-ordinates).

 Grazing pastures- first (left) and second (right) 

Before the wild camels were brought back into the breeding centre at Zakhyn Us the shelter was mucked out and all the fences were checked and repaired. Once the work was finished the camels were brought back into the enclosure for the winter months. The camels were herded back in using horses and motorbikes. On the … the male camels were brought back into Zakyn Us. The females and calves were then brought in on…

The “Hasha” wild camel enclosure. Being cleaned (left) and surrounding habitat (right).

Towards the end of October the building of a house began at Zakyn Us. The aim of which is to have a weather proof base for the Wild camel herder to use over winter. The building began on the 12^th of October and was completed on the 22^nd of October.

Winter house at Zakhyn Us. Foundations and building process

Original aims.

The original aim of the expedition was to determine behavioural states of the captive bred wild camels and to observe mother young interactions. Because of the management technique of separating mothers and calves and females and males during the summer and early autumnal months it was not possible to gain an accurate study of the natural behaviour within the herd. Individuals were separated so that natural herd interactions were not visable. Also the inclusion of domestic Bactrian camels changed herd dynamics and interactions.  Observations were made on the herd and these will be discussed.

Observations

Aesthetic differences with domestic Bactrians.

The wild camels show a number of aesthetic differences from domestic Bactrian. Many of these could be dependent upon the time of year. As these observations were made between September and October they may change throughout the year. Further observations and measurements would need to be made to gain a clearer understanding of these differences.

 The coat of the wild camel is lighter in colour. The colour is also more general amongst individuals, domestic Bactrian’s show a much wider variety in coat colour. Wild camels show a distinct dorsal stripe that continues from the head onto the tail, which the Bactrian’s lack. The hair on upper front legs is darker than the rest of the coat. During the September/ October period the domestic Bactrian had a much thicker and longer coat than that of the wild, this could change with winter coat.  

The wild camels appear to be larger in size, taller, but this could depend upon age of the individual again a greater understanding could be gained with further investigation. The build of the wild camel is more athletic and leaner- even with the same grazing. The humps of the wild camel are smaller than that of the domestic and they are more pointed and upright.

Wild camel female (left) and domestic Bactrian male (right).

When looking at the head of the camel it can be noted that the upper lip is split and either side can move independently. As with most ruminants they lack an upper set of incisor teeth, instead having a cartilage pad. The lower incisors are at an angle from the jaw. When the camel is relaxed the lower lip droops. All these features are present in the wild camel. Photos bellow both show wild camel females relaxed with drooped lower lip.  Photo on the right shows the split upper lip.

Vocalisations

Communication between individuals appears complex with a number of different vocalisations. Most commonly used vocalisations are a sharp shriek which indicates a warning or anger, as does a short wail. Individuals also call to one another using a long howl (video) and this is both used between mother and calf and also between conspecifics. While separated throughout the day the calves frequently call to mothers even when the females are not visible. Individuals will also still call to one another whilst lying down.

A call/howl to conspecifics in the herd seemed to stimulate movement. It appeared that there was a hierarchy and the lead female initiated movement. This would need to be investigated further, both to determine whether the herd hierarchy is set and also when males are present.

Behaviours.

When herded separately both the mothers and the calves would stay in groups containing other wild camels. Although some domestic camels would also be seen to graze with the wild, the wild would always be together. It would be interesting to know when the domestic and wild were introduced, and at what age the calves were when this introduction occurred.

The camels would often show grooming behaviours between conspecifics. This included rubbing the heads and necks together. It would be interesting to determine if this happened between all individuals in the herd.

Towards the end of October the females began to show a number of behaviours that could suggest the beginnings of the rut. They would urinate on the back legs, including urinating and deficating whilst lying down. They were also seen to slap the tail onto the back.

Herd members.

There were four calves born in the spring of 2011 two male and two female. Other members of the herd include the 4 breeding females, two younger females, two large breeding bulls and 4 younger males. In the two months of the trip most interaction was with the calves and mothers, occasionally with the young females. The males were brought in on … and one had still not been located by the time the expedition was complete.

John Hare has just returned from the expedition in China which Prince Albert of Monaco’s Foundation for endangered species and Ran Fiennes’s Transglobe Expedition Trust generously supported. The expedition consisted of two separate stages.

Stage One:
There were with John Hare on this stage two Chinese scientists, Professor Yuan Guoying and Yuan Lei, who have worked with WCPF on wild camel conservation for over 16 years. They travelled up the Keriya River, which stretches 250 kilometers from the town of Keriya to the south of the Taklamakan Desert and the Kunlun Mountains. These mountains form the northern escarpment of Tibet, and border the vast Taklamakan sand dune desert – the largest in the world. The purpose of this investigation was to follow up a report that wild camels had been seen near the point where the Keriya River finally drains into the desert sands. We reached the end of the river having interviewed herdsmen and elders along the way and made our final investigations at the village of Dariya. After thorough research the conclusion we reached is that there are definitely herds of wild camels in the Taklamakan (possibly three) and their total number varies between 30 and 50. As the Xinjiang government had not allowed us to proceed further with domestic camels into the vast area of Taklamakan sand dunes because of our proximity to oil prospecting, we had to terminate out investigations at Dariya – but our findings are highly significant. These 30- 50 wild camels are outside the area of the Lop Nur Wild Camel National Nature Reserve which our UK registered charity, The Wild Camel Protection Foundation, helped the Chinese government to establish in 2002 after initiating four previous surveys. Our next task is to work out how best to protect them. It is impossible to create a new Reserve among shifting dunes of sand, so we are concentrating on awareness-raising locally and specific education programmes for local schools.

Stage Two:
John Hare and Yuan Lei travelled with 15 domestic camels and four Kazakh herdsmen on a 305 kilometre journey over two huge barriers of sand dunes from the Hongliugou valley to Lapeiquan Spring. The route we took had not been attempted before and we were slightly unnerved to find we were faced with sand dunes over 400 metres high, one of which took over 2 hours to cross. The complete journey lasted just under three weeks. We encountered extremely low temperatures and two sand storms of considerable intensity and our head Kazakh herdsman (one of four) had his right arm removed from its socket by a kick from a camel. The arm was manipulated by the other three herdsmen and went back into place with a resounding ‘plop’ amidst a grind of gristle. Another Kazakh suspended himself by one leg on a rope upside down for half an hour to cure as he said ‘a swollen knee.’

They reached the spring of Kum Su which we had ‘discovered’ in 1999 and which is a spring deep below the level of the desert sands and which contained not only fresh water but a naive population of wildlife – wildlife which had never experienced the machinations of man. On returning there in 2005 from the east, we discovered that the spring had been polluted by illegal gold miners using potassium cyanide. On John Hare’s return to England in 2005 he protested through various channels (the Chinese Embassy in London, the Ministry of the Environment in Beijing, the National Geographic and the RGS) to the Chinese Government who said they would clean up the pollution. It was a huge relief to find that they had kept their promise, cleaned up the spring and that the wildlife was returning. But of course they are no longer naive and are now only too aware of what a rapacious species ‘man’ is.
Lastly and by no means least, we spotted 128 wild camels out of a Chinese total population of 600 which by any standards is encouraging. However, we are concerned that very few two-year-old and three-year-old camels were sighted due, we believe, to an increase in the wolf population. 

Conclusions:
The Chinese provincial government in Xinjiang considers our expedition to have been a great success.
1. We confirmed that there were 30 – 50 wild camels in the Taklamakan desert.
2. We pioneered a previously unmarked route over huge sand dunes and proved it was negotiable.
3. We saw 128 wild camels
4. We discovered that Kum Su spring had been cleaned up by the Federal Government.

Head Office, School Farm, Benenden, Kent, TN17 4EU England

Tel: 44 (0) 1580 241132

Email: harecamel@aol.com

www.wildcamels.com

Hon. Life Patron: Dr. Jane Goodall D.B.E.

Patrons:

The Marchioness of Bute, Damon de Laszlo, Lulu Lytle,

Jane McMorland Hunter of Hafton,

Professor David Munro, The Dowager Marchioness of Reading, Lady Grant, Peter Hall, Professor Yuan Guoying. Gerald Kidd

November 2010 – Newsletter Number 25

Dear Wild Camel Supporter,

Our redoubtable Patron and wild camel supporter par excellence, Jane McMorland Hunter, is undertaking yet another run to raise funds for the wild camel. We have just received a letter from Jane who is attempting a run on a scale she has never undertaken before. Here in her own words:

Brighton Marathon for The Wild Camels

Firstly, a very big thank-you to those of you who have sent cheques supporting my run. The Marathon is on 10^th April so there is still plenty of time to sponsor me. (Please send cheques payable to the Wild Camel Protection Foundation to Jane McMorland Hunter, 19 Varna Road, London SW6 7LB or email me at janemcmorlandhunter@yahoo.co.uk). I am training in London, along the river Thames and have now completed my last long run, crossing over almost every bridge between Battersea and the Tower of London to make up the 20 miles!

Having never run more than 6 miles and just hit the wrong side of fifty, I am not aiming for a time in Brighton, just to complete the run, enjoy it, if possible, and raise as much money as I can for the Wild Camels. On the day I shall be wearing a bright yellow t-shirt with the Wild Camels on it so I hope I’ll stand out in the crowd. I usually run with a toy camel, but I think 26.2 miles might be a bit tiring for him so he will be cheering from the sidelines.                                                                                            Thank you for your support.

Jane McMorland Hunter

PLEASE DO SUPPORT JANE IF YOU CAN AS EVERY DONATION IS IMPORTANT FOR THE WILD CAMELS.

Expedition and Survey by Vehicle and Domestic Camel China

On April 7^th 2011, next week I set off on another expedition and field survey, with Chinese scientists, this time into the Taklimakan Desert and the Desert of Lop in north-west China. Prince Albert of Monaco’s Trust for Endangered Species is funding the expedition with additional financial support from the Transglobe Educational Trust (Ran Fiennes) and the Chinese Xinjiang Environmental Protection Bureau which manages the Lop Nur Wild Camel National Nature Reserve in Xinjiang the only area where the wild camel is protected in China.

Camels have been sighted in the Taklimakan Desert and one of the objectives of the expedition is to investigate these sightings and confirm whether they are wild camels or not. Then with domestic Bactrian camels we will investigate the situation at Kumsu spring, which members will remember is where we found the badly polluted spring in 2006, where illegal gold miners had used potassium cyanide, which had leached into the fresh water spring and surrounding vegetation. A naïve population of wild life, discovered by us on an earlier expedition in 1999, had it seemed vanished. I will be talking at the RGS on November 10^th  2011 about this expedition with details and photographs of what we find. 

Mongolia – Hunter Hall Wild Camel Conservation, Breeding and Research Centre 

When in 2002 WCPF decided it was important given the serious threats to the wild camels in both China and Mongolia to try and breed wild camels in a breeding centre in Mongolia it was completely unknown territory. It has never been done before and any undertaking was a major step for the Foundation. Having met with the Minister of the Mongolian Ministry of Nature and Environment and with his interest and strong support WCPF entered into an agreement with the Ministry, now called the MNET, as tourism has been added to this Ministry. The wild camels are a Mongolian Red Book listed species and therefore the NCES (National Commission for Endangered Species) a division of the MNET was also involved. The agreement between WCPF and MNET/NCES was signed in 2004 and gave us authority to establish a Wild Camel Conservation and Breeding Centre in Mongolia. The area selected was a site with a spring within the Buffer Zone of the Great Gobi Special Protected Area ‘A’ where the wild camels currently exist in the wild. This was so the habitat would be part of the same ecosystem for the wild camels which we hoped would be bred at this new Centre. Fences and wooden buildings for storing winter hay and for use as shelters for the pregnant wild camels were built and local staff employed. Seven years later the Breeding Centre is a success with pregnant wild camels there now as I write, due to give birth to more young wild camels in April/May this year. The numbers have increased, and an International Stud Book detailing the genetic history of the captive wild camels at the Centre has been established. Behavioral studies have been made and genetic samples tested by the Veterinary University in Vienna.

However, it was always part of our plan to encourage national and local stewardship. This rare and amazing animal lives in Mongolia and WCPF has worked hard to encourage the local Mongolians to care for the wild camel, now confirmed as a separate species over 700,000 years old. In 2010 the GGSPA’A’ Director had expressed an interest in the Park Administration taking a greater role in the management of the Breeding Centre. He discussed this with us again at length at the Hustai Workshop – ‘Developing a National Action Plan for Wild Camels in Mongolia’, in August/September 201I. This Director is well known to WCPF and was one of the Mongolian participants who attended the WCPF/ZSL 2006 training fortnight, for both Chinese and Mongolian wild camel scientists, on Jasper Evans ranch in Kenya. He has managed the Great Gobi Specially Protected Area ‘A’ for many years. So WCPF having given this very careful consideration and after very lengthy discussions with the GGSPA’A’ Director and the MNET decided to hand the day to day management and supervision of the Hunter Hall Wild Camel Breeding and Conservation Centre over to the GGSPA’A’ Administration. This handover will be managed within a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the GGSPA’A’, a MOU which has been approved by the MNET and WCPF. The MOU will have an agreed Management Plan and Budget and on this basis WCPF will continue to fund the costs of the Hunter Hall Wild Camel Breeding, Conservation and Research Centre.

WCPF is very pleased the Hunter Hall Wild Camel Breeding, Conservation and Research Centre has been a success and it is largely thanks to the HUGE support and encouragement we have had over the seven years from all our members. So THANK YOU for giving us the funds to do this and a very special THANK YOU to Peter Hall who gave us the seed money to establish the project and make it possible. In recognition of Peter’s contribution the Centre has been named the Hunter Hall Wild Camel Conservation, Breeding and Research Centre. We are handing over the management of a very successful project, a Breeding Centre which is very much up and running. The Park has plans for involving the local communities more and also local vets and even using the Centre to help train young vets. So there are some interesting future plans.

WCPF will continue to raise funds for the Breeding Centre budget and also where possible support and fund the work of the GGSPA’A’ in protecting this large desert ecosystem, as it is the only area in Mongolia where the wild camel is protected in its natural habitat and is under very serious threat from mining both legal and illegal. Also as a locally, in-country managed Breeding and Conservation Centre for a IUCN and Red Book listed species WCPF with the GGSPA’A’ Administration have access to more opportunities for applying for funding grants from international Foundations.

Fund raising is difficult in the present economic climate so all ideas for fund raising activities are welcome

Camel day in Warwickshire

Once again Joseph and Rebecca Fossett of Joseph’s Amazing Camels www.jacamels.co.uk have kindly offered to host a camel day in June to raise funds for the wild camel. Their generous support for this now Annual Wild Camel Event is much appreciated. There will be camel racing, camel polo, the ever-popular pig racing and numerous side shows. China (crockery not the country) smashing is always a winner. There is not a Football World Cup to reduce attendance as happened last year when England were playing on the same day, so please put this date in your diary and come and support this event if you can on Sunday June 19^th at 2.00 pm, the Old Farmhouse, White House Farm, Idlicote, Near Shipston-on Stour, Warwick (it is very clearly sign-posted).

Fund-raising in Kenya 

Plans are afoot to organise a fund-raising day in Kenya. Amanda Perrett, Jasper Evans daughter and a WCPF Trustee is planning a camel polo match (on dromedaries) and a race through a swamp, which borders the ranch where she lives in West Laikipea. More details shortly. I was staying on the ranch during part of January and February and some of the time was spent cooking-up fund-raising ideas. One or two members have already said they would be interested in participating in one way or another.

NEW WEBSITE

The new website is receiving lots of hits (and compliments). If you have not yet seen it do visit  www.wildcamels.com with additional information at <www.johnhare.org.uk>

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS

Most members have renewed their annual membership but if you haven’t, please send £20.00 (or its equivalent in foreign currency). You can pay by going to the website www.wildcamels.com using Paypal. If you are paying in US dollars or Euros you can also transfer funds direct into the WCPF’s Euro or US dollar accounts. Please email us and ask for the WCPF bank and transfer details.  Many of members pay by setting up a standing order with their bank account to the WCPF UK account. This keep costs down.

Very best wishes

John Hare

Wild Camel Protection Foundation

Head Office, School Farm, Benenden, Kent TN17 4EU

www.wildcamels.com

The wild camel, which acts as an ‘umbrella’ species in this remote and pristine desert, protecting other critically endangered species such as the wild ass, the Gobi bear and the black-tailed gazelle is under threat in a Protected Area, a National Nature Reserve.

Latest estimates from the information WCPF (UK) has received there are over 200 illegal miners, nicknamed ‘ninjas’ in the Protected Area. They are using primitive and intensely destructive methods potassium cyanide and water from waterpoints to mine gold. The Park Authorities have limited  financial and manpower resources to manage the 55,000 square kilometers of the Protected Area and this problem is increasing daily as more miners arrive and there is pressure from large mining companies to mine parts of these Protected Areas in Mongolia for gold and copper.

The recent winter in Mongolia has been severe, but this  did not stop the miners entering the Protected Area and mining gold. They have over-wintered in the heartland of the Park – the ONLY wild camel habitat in Mongolia – leaving the area littered with rubbish, plastic bags and tins, denuded water supplies for the fauna and flora; and the fragile desert surface torn up by vehicle tracks.

There are only 450 wild camels in Mongolia and fewer than 600 in north-west China and in both areas they are threatened with illegal gold and iron-ore mining.
Pressure is being put on the Mongolian government by miners and speculators to de-gazette the Specially Protected Area ‘A’ and allow gold to be legally mined.
The Park established in 1978 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Mongolian Government is home to both endangered large and small mammals, including species of gerbils, jerboas and also to rare endangered desert flora.

The situation cannot be controlled with the resources currently available and awareness needs to be raised world-wide of these threats to this and other Protected Areas and Nature Reserves in Mongolia, and pressure put on both illegal miners and legal mining companies to respect the laws protecting these National Nature Reserves.

Jasper Evans, a Founding Trustee of WCPF, was born in Kenya and lived there all his life and at one time kept over 250 Dromedary camels on Ol Maisor his Laikipia ranch in northern Kenya. He was a man of great charm and someone who had a prodigious amount of practical and historical knowledge, not only of Kenya but also of the Dromedary and Bactrian camels. He wrote a definitive guide to managing camels and accompanied me into the Chinese Gobi in 1997, from Lake Chad to Tripoli across the Sahara in 2001/2002 and to Mongolia to see the breeding centre in 2005. A great camel man and a very good friend, Jasper sadly died suddenly in February this year aged 85.

We have invited his daughter Amanda Perrett, who lives on Ol Maisor and runs camel safaris and environmental educational programmes for school groups to be a Trustee of the WCPF.

We have also invited Yuan Lei from the Lop Nur Wild Camel National Nature Reserve in China to be a WCPF Trustee. Yuan Lei has come with me on the five expeditions I have made since 1995 into the Gashun Gobi and the Desert of Lop in China. He has also made a further five wild Bactrian camel surveys with scientists from the head office of the Reserve in Urumqi, China. He is organizing the September 2010 field survey and expedition into the Taklamakan Desert. He will be a great asset to the Foundation.

His father, Professor Yuan Guoying has kindly agreed to become a Patron of the Foundation. As many of you know Professor Yuan Guoying was responsible for my invitation to visit China in 1994. He was also crucial in securing the establishment of the Lop Nur Wild Camel National Nature Reserve. The Professor was also a member of the team, which crossed the Sahara from Lake Chad to Tripoli in 2001/2 and was honoured by the Chinese Government as the first Chinese person to cross the Sahara on a camel in recorded history. An eminent zoologist, with a keen love of nature, his appointment to be a Patron of WCPF continues the firm link to both Jasper and the early formation of the Foundation and the future work of the WCPF in China.

Kenya Camel Safaris

John and Amanda Perrett have organised dromedary camel safaris¬†since 1982, around Ol Maisor¬†ranch on¬†Kenya’s Laikipia plateau and beyond to Kenya‚Äôs borders. The well-trained Ol Maisor camels are¬†sensitively handled and guided by¬†an experienced team from different Kenyan tribes, most of whom have grown up with their charges.¬†

Perrett safaris can be a one day introduction to the camel’s placid and¬†curious nature, or as long as you like with time to appreciate the¬†uncomplaining (although they don‚Äôt sound that way) nature of the camel and its strengths. Camels often become personal friends and on safari with their help, you are able to attune to the natural world and escape the rush, noise and pollution¬†of modern life.

The boundless sense of humour of the hard working African handlers, their spontaneous chatter and song, match the rhythm of life in the African bush. Safaris are unstructured to cater for individual requirements.  They can be fully organised, or clients can merely hire the camel team and do their own thing. The camel caravans carry all the food and luggage required for basic comforts, and if desired can also carry the client where terrain permits.  There is no vehicle assistance or communication with the outside world and clients are advised to take out adequate medical insurance and Flying Doctor evacuation in case of an unfortunate accident. 

I hope to be on Ol Maisor in Kenya during some of the winter months and will talk to, advise and possibly accompany some of the groups on a Perrett camel safari. John and Amanda have a campsite on Ol Maisor where visitors can stay prior to going on a camel trek.

If any members would like to go alone or with friends on a Perrett camel safari please contact John and Amanda at olmaisor@africaonline.co.ke or me at harecamel@aol.com.

Fund Raising Events

Last year, Joe and Rebecca Fossett very kindly held a Bactrian camel day on their farm in Idlicote, Warwickshire to raise funds for the wild Bactrian camels. In spite of rain at midday it proved to be a great success and many of our members attended the camel and pig races and participated in side-shows. So we are delighted the Fossett’s have once again offered to stage the event on their farm. This time there will be a Bactrian camel polo match, as well as pig racing, with the WCPF entering a polo team (of two). The date is Sunday, June 27th at 2.00pm. There is plenty of parking at White House Farm, Idlicote, near Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire.

The Fossetts have a business called ‘Joseph and his Amazing Camels and race these domestic Bactrian camels at agricultural shows and similar events all over the country. If you cannot attend in person, maybe you can alert friends who live in the area. A full programme of events and directions to Idlicote comes with this newsletter

WCPF Patrons’ Lunch

A WCPF Patrons’ Lunch has been arranged for Tuesday, 29th of June at the Reform Club. We are delighted that our Life Patron, Dr. Jane Goodall DBE will be attending.

Reports

During February I spent three weeks lecturing aboard a cruise ship about the wild Bactrian camel. This awareness-raising, mainly to an American and Canadian audience, has resulted in several new members and substantial donations to WPCF.

I will be appearing at the Buxton Literary Festival, Opera House Venue at 10.00am on July 8th with Ranulf Fiennes and Robin Hanbury-Tenison on a panel answering the question, ‘What’s the point of expeditions? Matthew Parris Рa great WCPF supporter Рwill be in the chair. Members who live near Buxton might be interested in coming to give support. I will also be speaking at the Canterbury Festival on October 25th at 5.30 pm. The topic will be the current problems facing the critically endangered wild Bactrian camel.

China

Wild Bactrian camels have been sighted in the Taklamakan Desert outside the protected area around Lop Nur, and there is a plan to ascertain how many there are and whether it is feasible to consider establishing a nature reserve in this area. I have been invited to join one of the Lop Nor Wild Camel National Nature Reserve’s scientific surveys in September/October 2010 into the area of the Taklamakan Desert where these wild Bactrian camels have been sighted. The Budget for the field survey expedition with domestic bactrian camels is US$60,000. We have managed to raise US$40,000 and are actively fund-raising as I write. This field trip will also include a survey of the area in the Desert of Lop where we found evidence of illegal mining in 2005. It is crucial to see what further effects illegal mining is having in the Xinjiang Lop Nur Wild Camel Nature Reserve so we can alert the Chinese and International authorities.

Mongolia

The Ministry of Nature and Environment and Tourism (MNET) and the Mongolian Wild Camel Protection Foundation NGO are hosting a five day Workshop in Mongolia from August 25th until August 31st. The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the WCPF UK are also as co-hosts of the Workshop. The aim of this Workshop is with the participation of stakeholders to develop and agree a National Strategy in Mongolia for the future of the wild Bactrian camel. Participants will include leading MNET government officials, local government governors and officials and international wild Bactrian camel experts. Kate Rae and I will be attending. The Workshop aims to examine current knowledge of Camelus bactrianus ferus, prioritise actions necessary for the species’ survival, and establish a National strategy which will be adopted by the MNET and identify through which agencies implementation of specific actions will occur and to an agreed timetable. This is vital to safeguard a firm policy for protecting the 8th most critically endangered large mammal in the world. The Workshop will also agree proposals to implement a release programme from the WCPF Hunter Hall breeding centre at Zakhyn Us in Mongolia.

IMPACT OF MINING AND THREAT TO DE-GAZETTE PROTECTED AREAS

any members will have read of the rapid increase in mining in Mongolia. The catalyst for investors was a decision last August by Mongolia‚Äôs new president to repeal a punitive windfall tax on copper and gold profits imposed in 2005 by a previous left of centre government. The government has finalized a deal with the Canadian-listed Ivanhoe Mines to develop a $5 billion gold and copper mine. The scale of Mongolia‚Äôs projected wealth is enormous with another 15 areas identified as being $15 billion sites. Tragically, one of them is situated in between the Gobi ‘A’ and Gobi ‘B’ Protected Areas. As the Gobi ‘A’ is the home of the wild Bactrian camel this news impacts seriously on our work protecting the wild Bactrian camel and its habitat. It has been established by the illegal ‘ninja’ miners that there is gold within Gobi ‘A’ and dozens of illegal miners have already entered the area. Gold mining legal and illegal is particularly hazardous to the fragile desert ecosystem and destroys the water points for the wild Bactrian camels. The WCPF has given financial support to the Gobi ‘A’ authorities to assist the Director and the Rangers in their work, particularly their field patrols within the Great Gobi Special Protected Area ‘A’. It is mainly for the cost of petrol as the area which the patrols have to cover is vast and the cost of petrol very expensive. We would like if possible to make a regular contribution of US$1,500 every quarter, to the cost of their patrols. So if any member would like to contribute directly to these costs please contact me. We are waiting for the latest update from the Project Director.
As mentioned in the last Newsletter, voices have also been raised to de-gazette Mongolian wildlife reserves in which mineral wealth is found. WCPF is monitoring the situation closely and we will do all in our power to resist possible de-gazetting of the Great Gobi ‘A’. The critically endangered Gobi bear and the endangered wild ass and black-tailed gazelle also live in Gobi ‘A’ so we are co-operating with all the national and International organisations interested in protecting this fragile desert ecosystem. However, Mongolian ‚Äògold fever‚Äô is rampant at the moment and mining is undoubtedly going to change the country irrevocably.

Recent Severe Winter

What will not change, however, is the severity of Mongolian winters and the latest winter has been particularly harsh. We planned ahead and bought much more hay to feed the captive wild Bactrian camels at the breeding centre at Zakhyn Us, but still had to buy additional supplies i March 2010, because of the length of the winter and the depth of snowfall, in some places up to eight foot. Roads and schools were closed and both people and many domestic animals have perished. The report from Bilgee, our project director who has been down there recently will be circulated in our next newsletter.

Yorkshire Schools

We are working with an organization called Yorkshire Schools. They would like to take up to 17 pupils, in 2011, to stay at the Zakhyn Us, Hunter Hall Breeding Centre. They will go on a camel safari to visit Mother Mountain and work on an environmental project with schools local to the Breeding Centre. This working co-operation with an organization, supported by the Royal Geographical Society and of high repute, will encourage cooperation and understanding between British and Mongolian youth, spread awareness of the difficulties facing the wild Bactrian camel, and provide real adventure for Yorkshire school children.

Explorers Club, New York

I have spoken several times at the Explorers Club in New York and to raise awareness of the wild Bactrian camel and the Gobi Desert, the WCPF agreed in 2009 to provide a prize at an Explorers Club auction. The winner will be taken on a camel safari into Gobi ‘A’ Reserve in Mongolia and also visit the wild Bactrian camel Hunter Hall Breeding Centre at Zakhyn Us and stay in the ger/ yurt at the Centre. Michael J. Manyak, MD, FACS, Professor of Urology, Engineering, Microbiology, and Tropical Medicine won the auction and will be accompanied by two friends ‚Äì one of whom dived over and surveyed the Titanic. Their trip will take place in August 2010. James of Panoramic Travel is organising their travel within Mongolia and will bring them safely to the Hunter Hall Breeding Centre in Zakhyn-Us.

New Website

WCPF is re-doing the WCPF website www.wildcamels.com to make it easier to use and find information, facilitate donations and allow us to up-date the site as and when the information becomes available. The site has a remarkable number of visits every month, many from school children, researchers and international organizations. The ‘shop’ site is being expanded to include items knitted from wild Bactrian camel hair, by the families living near the breeding centre. This is an important source of income for them.

We reported in the last newsletter how as part of our work the WCPF supports the Communities local to the Breeding Centre. We are already selling Bactrian camel hair knitted items on the WCPF website and a new batch of knitted goods has arrived in the UK. The WCPF was asked by the women knitters to help with the cost of a local building. The cost to the WCPF would be 50% of the total cost of a building, which will give the knitters of the Bactrian camel items, hats, scarves, gloves and socks, a better place in which to work. They would also be able to knit more items for us to sell, and earn more income for themselves. The total cost of this local Mongolian Community project is $2,100. The WCPF microfinance funding will be $1,050 (50%). The knitters are already repaying this loan to the WCPF with knitted items.

Annual Subscriptions

Most members have renewed their annual membership for 2006/2007/2008, but if you haven’t, please send £20.00 (or its equivalent in foreign currency). You can pay by going to the website www.wildcamels.com using Paypal. If you are paying in US dollars or Euros you can also transfer funds direct into the WCPF’s Euro or US dollar accounts. Please email us and ask for the bank transfer details. After 10 years we have decided to raise our subscription by £5 to £20/$40/25 Euros. Could members kindly adjust their payments accordingly? Many of our long-standing members pay by direct debit from their bank account to the WCPF UK account. This helps us keep costs down. Please SEND AN email for the WCPF bank details.
As the WCPF pays for the monthly costs of the Mongolian Wild Camel NGO these regular payments enable us to manage our finances more easily and those members who have not set up such an annual payment are encouraged to do so. Also much thanks to those who have sponsored a camel at the breeding centre.

To all our supporters all over the world I send our thanks. You are our lifeblood and a constant source of encouragement and inspiration.

Finally

I hope to see many of you at the CAMEL POLO and PIG RACING on June 27th at Idliote in Warwickshire – not too far from Oxford and Stratford-on-Avon. All the proceeds from this event go to WCPF.

Very best wishes and renewed thanks for your continued support.

John Hare
Founder
Wild Camel Protection Foundation

The interim results of their work are very encouraging. Here are comments from a recent informal report given to the WCPF by Dr Pamela Burger:

The genetic work on the camel is not completed yet, it is now starting to become interesting. Katja found in her baccelor work two fixed differences between the wild and the dom estic Bactrian camels. That means we can now distinguish between them very exactly and even find a hybrid camel in a group of wild camels – If the =2 0 MOTHER was domestic Bactrian.

The differences are in the mitochondrial DNA , which is transferred only from the MOTHER to the offspring. For example, if a wild bull takes a domestic female into the wild herd, we can find them and their offspring.

We followed the maternal lineage until now and Katja is now starting to investigate the nuclear DNA (genes of mother AND father) with micro-satellites. With these nuclear DNA ana lysis we can investigate the degree of hybridization and the genetic diversity of the Mongolian and the Chinese wild Bactrian camels. She will do this for her doctorate over the next 3 years.

This is a highly significant statement and is of immense value to our work.