bactrian

Species of camel, Camelus bactrianus, found in the Gobi Desert in central Asia. Body fat is stored in two humps on the back. It has very long winter fur which is shed in ragged lumps. The bactrian has a head and body length of about 3 m/10 ft, and is about 2.1 m/6.8 ft tall at the shoulder. Most bactrian camels are domesticated and are used as beasts of burden in central Asia.

In 1995 there were only about 730–880 bactrian camels remaining in the wild.

In April 2001, Chinese and British researchers established that there is a 3% difference between the DNA of the wild bactrian and that of its domestic counterpart, indicating that they may in fact be separate species.