Urgent efforts are needed to conserve a remarkable wild animal of the deserts of China and Mongolia: the Bactrian camel. This species has lived in the heart of the Gobi desert for thousands of years, and is now on the brink of extinction, with less than 1,000 camels surviving in the wild.

The call is being made by the Wild Camel Protection Foundation and the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) in a booklet available now in English, Chinese and Mongolian. The author, John Hare, has spent a considerable part of the last few years trying to raise awareness in the world’s conservation community. The booklet "The King of the Gobi - The story of the wild Bactrian camel" is particularly aimed at the children and adults in China and Mongolia to make them aware of the problems facing the wild Bactrian camel and to educate them on the importance of protecting their common natural heritage.

Thanks to the generous support of the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, 12,000 brochures have been printed.  The CMS Secretariat had arranged for the translation from English into Mongolian and the Mongolian Ministry of Education has undertaken to distribute the brochure in schools and other educational institutions. The Mongolian member of the CMS Scientific Council, Mr Lhagvasuren, played a key role in obtaining a solid translation and adaption of the brochure to Mongolian living areas of the camels.  CMS is grateful for the cooperation of all those who have worked on the booklet and organised its distribution in the schools of Mongolia and China.

The Camel Foundation has organised the same exercise in Chinese for the Northern Chinese region.

For further details you may contact:

Mr. John Hare, Director, The Wild Camel Protection Foundation, School Farm, Benenden, Kent TN17 4 EU, England, Tel: 44 (0) 1580 241 132, Fax: 44 (0) 1580 240 960, website: http://wildcamels.com, E-mail: harecamel@aol.com