| |
 |
Wild camels spotted
|
AFTER walking across two deserts and waiting patiently near a water source in the desert for more than 10 days, a Chinese research team finally spotted the rare two-humped wild camel in the Lop Nur Desert on Monday.
The pictures sent back by the CCTV reporters are the first of its kind taken at such close range, a report on the CCTV website said.
Experts say that most two-humped wild camels live in the desert and they are few in number, so therefore only a few file photos of the animals existed before the research team and the CCTV crew succeeded in taking the new footage. These precious pictures will be of great value to the study and protection of the very rare creatures, experts say.
“The number of wild camels in China is fewer than that of giant pandas, so we must take emergency measures to protect (the wild camels)," Xia Xuncheng, head of the research team said.
Like the giant pandas, the reproductive capacity of the two-humped wild camels is extremely low. They can only propagate every two years, Xia told reporters. Wolves and the deterioration of the environment have also taken their toll.
If no effective measures are taken to protect them, Xia predicted that the animals face possible extinction.(SD News)
|
|
|
|
