WILD CAMEL PROTECTION FOUNDATION

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, Lady Chichester, Lady Grant, Professor Yuan Guoying, Peter Hall, Jane McMorland Hunter of Hafton, Gerald Kidd, Damon de Laszlo, Lulu Lytle, Colin McIntosh, Professor David Munro, The Dowager Marchioness of Reading.

September 2011 – Newsletter Number 26

Dear Wild Camel Supporter,

New Patrons

A warm welcome to Lady Chichester, a new Patron of the WCPF. With her knowledge of Bactrian camels and great enthusiasm for the camels world-wide, we appreciate her keenness to support  the WCPF to protect the wild camels. Lady Chichester owns a very remarkable domestic Bactrian camel called Therese. Therese has participated in the Lord Mayor’s Show, performs dressage to a high standard (including a flying change) and thoroughly enjoys being the centre of attention. If anyone doubts the assertion that camels are more intelligent than horses they ought to meet Therese. We send a big and warm welcome to Colin McIntosh, our first American patron. Colin has generously supported wild camel protection over the past four years and takes a great interest in our field work both in China and Mongolia.

Brighton Marathon for the Wild Camels

Jane McMorland Hunter completed the Brighton Marathon, a first for her, which she ran in fine style, on behalf of the wild camels and raised substantial funds for the WCPF. A huge thank you to the intrepid Jane, and ALL the WCPF members who most generously supported her marathon fund-raising efforts. Jane works for Slightly Foxed (www.foxedquarterly.com) the Real Readers Quarterly, a delightful literary quarterly magazine, and WCPF supporter, at their bookshop at 23 Gloucester Rd., London SW7 4TE.

HAY APPEAL  – URGENT

Winter is approaching and it is the time of year to ensure there is sufficient hay at the Breeding Centre so the wild camels survive a Mongolian winter. This is an annual funding commitment and vital to the success of the Breeding Centre. Thank you very much, to those of you who have given money already for hay. The Director is trying to source hay locally this year, both to support the local economy, and save on the high transport and fuel costs. Fund-raising for Hay is very difficult, so all donations towards hay will be most gratefully received.

Expedition and Survey by Vehicle and Domestic Bactrian Camel, China

I completed the 2011 spring expedition in China which Prince Albert of Monaco’s Foundation for Endangered Species and Ran Fiennes’s Transglobe Expedition Trust generously supported. The Trip consisted of two separate Expeditions.

Expedition One:

With me on this field expedition, were Professor Yuan Guoying and Yuan Lei, who have worked with me on wild camel conservation for over 16 years. We travelled up the Keriya River, which stretches 250 miles 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 field expedition was to investigate 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 there are definitely herds of wild camels in the Taklamakan (possibly three herds) and their total number varies between 30 and 50. The Xinjiang government did not give us permission to proceed further with domestic camels into the vast area of Taklamakan sand dunes because of our proximity to oil exploration. 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 WCPF helped the Chinese government to establish in 2002 after four surveys of the area. Our next task is to work out how best to protect these herds of wild camels. It is NOT possible to create a new Reserve among the shifting dunes of sand and it would be very difficult to manage the area. The conclusion I reached in discussion with the Chinese team was to concentrate on implementing an awareness-raising project for the local communities and a specific environmental education programme for the local schools. The local Chinese team would implement it through a series of Workshops and the distribution of awareness raising materials. WCPF based on the results of this expedition and field survey will apply for further funding from Prince Albert’s Foundation and other funding agencies.

Expedition Two:

I travelled with Yuan Lei and four Kazakh herdsmen and fifteen (15) domestic camels on a 325 mile journey over two huge barriers of sand dunes from the Hongliugou valley to Lapeiquan Spring which follows the southern boundary of the Lop Nur Wild Camel National Nature Reserve. 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 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 upside down by one leg on a rope for half an hour to cure what he said was a ‘a swollen knee.’

We reached the spring of Kum Su which we had ‘discovered’ in 1999 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 presence of man. On returning there in 2005 from the east, we discovered the spring had been polluted by illegal gold miners using potassium cyanide. On my return to England in 2005 I 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 they had kept their promise, and that the wildlife was returning. They are no longer naive, only too aware of what a polluting species ‘man’ is.

Lastly and by no means least, we spotted 128 wild camels out of a Chinese total population of 600 which is very encouraging. However, we were concerned to see very few two-year-old and three-year-old wild camels, the decrease due perhaps to the increase in the wolf population. The Chinese government has forbidden herdsmen to carry shotguns, in the interests of ’security’, so they cannot protect their flocks from predators and this has meant an increase in the wolf population.

Conclusions:

The Chinese provincial government in Xinjiang considers our expedition to have been a great success – and so do I.

1. We confirmed 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. (All within the National Nature Reserve)

3. We saw 128 wild camels

4. We discovered Kum Su spring had been cleaned up by the Federal Government, and wildlife has returned to the area.                                                                                                           5.WCPF agreed a plan with the Chinese Nature Reserve Director for raising awareness locally of the importance of the wild camel – a Chinese Red Book listed species.

The wild camels in the Lop Nur Wild Camel National Nature Reserve appear to be holding their own and numbers are neither increasing nor declining to any significant degree. However, the pressures from illegal mining and wolf predation are increasing and given the speed of Chinese economic development they will continue to do so. The Reserve Director is very conscious of this as he struggles with limited staff to maintain surveillance of the Reserve – an area the size of Europe. With some members of the Provincial Council keen to maximize development within Xinjiang province, it may be some of the core areas of wild camel habitat within the Reserve are re-defined by the authorities to allow areas where the wild camel never enters to be made available for strictly controlled mineral prospecting. This is a very difficult decision o support, however, if this can be counterbalanced by enforcing strict control within the core areas then given the continuous pressure to develop, this seems to be a way forward.

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

We have now signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Nature and the Environment and Tourism (MNET) regarding the management of the Breeding Centre. Mijjidorj, the Director of the Great Gobi SPA ‘A’ (the wild camel reserve) is now managing the breeding centre which is in the Buffer Zone of the protected area on behalf of the MNET and in close consultation with WCPFUK. WCPF will still continue to fund ALL the Breeding Centre costs and some of the costs of the Great Gobi SPA’A’.  With the success of the Breeding Centre and the increased number wild camels there now, it is very important to involve the Director in the management of the Breeding Centre wild camels. Since the signing of the MOU six weeks ago, the wild camels have all been vaccinated, the Director has put forward significant proposals for future development and the young calves born this season are thriving.  A science graduate student from Scotland, Anna Jemmett, has just left for Mongolia via Beijing where she will spend at least two months, as a volunteer working on an observational survey of wild camel behaviour at the breeding centre. Anna will be staying at the Breeding Centre and also observing the new management system.

If readers missed the explanation of the new management structure at the Breeding Centre please go to www.wildcamels.com and access Newsletter 25 where full details are given.

FUND RAISING

Camel day in Warwickshire

The camel day at Idlicote in Warwickshire, most generously organized by Joseph and Rebecca Fossett was a huge success. After days of rain, the sun shone and the public turned up to cheer on the camel racing and the polo players and give their opinions on the camel beauty pageant. The ever-popular pig racing provided much amusement, as did the plate smashing. A huge thank you to both Joe and Rebecca and their three wonderful children, for working so hard to ensure such a successful day for the wild camels.

Next year the event we hope will be held in Kent, at Hole Park, Rolvenden by kind permission of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Barham. The Fossett’s have very kindly agreed to bring their racing camels to Kent, so all the excitement of the wild camel day will be brought closer to the Headquarters of the Wild Camel Protection Foundation. The date for 2012 and details will be circulated as soon as it is finalised.

Fund-raising camel day at Ol Maisor in Kenya

Amanda (WCPFUK Trustee) and John Perrett organised a very successful wild camel day on the late Jasper Evans’s ranch in Kenya. Here is Amanda’s report:

The Camel day seems to have been a success as far as the event went. All seemed to have enjoyed it, although John and I think the camel guys, felt it wasn’t such a good atmosphere this time.  Those who hadn’t been last time obviously didn’t know the difference. We had an inch of rain the night before, on top of another inch during the week, so John had to make a new run route round the property at 6 pm as the bridge across the swamp went under water!  It was a fiasco in the campsite trying to get people settled into leaking tents in the down-pour, but our three youths valiantly soldiered on in good spirits and kept everyone smiling and

fed.  John delayed the start by an hour so it could dry out a little.  The “hare” rider slipped in a puddle and fell off his piki pik leading the Fun Runners so they overtook him and all got lost doing about 12 kms instead of the 10!  We couldn’t get anyone to sponsor the camel races after the first one, so just ran three before the rain came in again, two with our own guys just to keep the crowd happy.  In hindsight John thinks Barabara fixed the race so that the Chief won it, which then put anyone else off sponsoring.

Typical!  The British Army team beat the farm team and the American ladies team so Barabara was very long in the face about that, but the Army team were chuffed and said how much fun it had been, so we were chuffed about that!  Think we definitely need more professional help in training the camels next time.  The man who’d promised some tuition in the last couple of weeks never materialised.  We have been offered sponsorship for next year from a big finance company, so our youth are putting a powerpoint presentation together to take to them.  A couple of the prize donors came this time, and I think were impressed by the number of people, so hopefully we’ll get better response to sponsorships next year. Also we think we’ve learnt how to go about it now!  None of the eco-stalls came either.  The Tuff stuff people were keen but couldn’t make it, and the biogas demo guy came but didn’t bring our system to demonstrate it.  Our camel products went down well.  We had a lot more runners this time, the money raised we would like to send to you John for the Wild Camels.  It is only a drop in the ocean in terms of what you need, but hopefully next year will be better.  We didn’t cover our costs from the camping and products by a long way, but if we can get sponsorships for setting it up next year it’ll help both of us.  The travel writer from the newspaper came and is writing an article on camels, wild camels and the event, so will be interesting to see what she says.  The locals are all very happy and say they made a lot of money out of the event.  I guess we achieved something then?!   The baby camel race was wonderful, and hilarious!  Had 15 of them charging full tilt down the track.  Each time they practised a different one won, so they were definitely an unknown quantity to bet on.  We had enough takers for it to run it, so think we could enlarge on that in future.

Huge thanks to Amanda and John Perrett for all their hard work. We are so very grateful. A photo of the young camel race is attached.

OTHER FUND RAISING EVENTS

Dine in Byron’s Set in Albany. Piccadilly

Damon de Laszlo, a WCPF Patron, lives in Byron’s former rooms, Albany, Piccadilly and has very kindly offered to host a fund-raising dinner for WCPF and Matthew Parris – a supporter of the wild camel for many years  - has agreed to come and give a talk.

The numbers are strictly limited to 18. Places are filling fast. If any member would like an invitation (tickets are £1,000) would they please contact me direct.

Lectures

I have a Lecture Tour (thirteen lectures) planned in the States from September 27^th to October 15^th 2011 to raise awareness of the wild camels and to fund raise. Joan Digby, a most loyal member based in New York has very kindly put together a programme which takes me from New York to Florida via Philadelphia and Pittsburg. I very much hope this will prove to be a great fund-raising opportunity for WCPF.

UK Lectures:

Eype Literary Festival, Nr Dorchester, October 20^th, 6.30 p.m. Contact: Mark Culme-Seymour
Director – Eype Centre for the Arts, MARCO POLO HOUSE – WEST BEXINGTON, DORCHESTER – DORSET – DT2 9DE
Tel: 44 (0) 1308 898420 – Mobile: 44 (0) 7785 793044

Royal Scottish Geographical Society, 24^th/25th/26th/27th of October 2011 at Dumfries, Borders, Ayr and Helensburgh Contact: mike.robinson@rsgs.org

Royal Geographical Society with Ran Fiennes and Ray Mears on 10^th of November 2011. Tickets £25.00 for this event can be obtained from: TRANSGLOBE EXPEDITION TRUST

Walnut Tree Farm, Benhall, Saxmundham, Suffolk IP17 1JB

01728 604434 (w) 07771713683 (m)TGExpedition@aol.com

www.transglobe-expedition.org

The tickets cost £25. You need to enclose a stamped  envelope with your application. Your name and telephone number should be on the back of your cheque. Doors open at 6.00pm and refreshments are available. Transglobe Expedition Trust part sponsored my 2011 expedition in China and have been great supporters of WCPF for many years.

Ebenezer Chapel Lecture. 11^th November. The Ebenezer Chapel, Riverside, Burrowbridge, Bridgwater, Somerset. TA7 ORE. Contact 07860480035 or 078920654. Email: constantine.ebenzer@virgin.net

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 direct 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 for the WCPF bank and transfer details. Many members pay by setting up a standing order with their bank to pay direct to the WCPF UK account. This keep costs down.

Very best wishes and renewed thanks for your great support for our cause – the prevention of the critically endangered wild camel from extinction.

John Hare

Wild Camel Protection Foundation Head Office,

School Farm, Benenden, Kent TN17 4EU

www.wildcamels.com

Over 350 people turned up on a rain-free day in Warwickshire to raise funds for the Wild Camel Protection Foundation. The day was a great success and the crowd was entertained to camel racing, pig racing and camel polo .A picture of the Wild Camel Protection Foundation polo team is shown and also a picture of the team in action. WCPF won 4 – 1 (the only goal against being scored when John Hare forgot which way he should be facing!).

The money raised will be put towards the outstanding projects which need funding at the Zakhyn Us wild camel breeding centre in Mongolia in particular the purchase of hay to ensure the wild camels are well fed over the winter months.

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.