Two closely related types of camel are sometimes confused: the Arabian camel with 1 hump and the Bactrian camel with 2 humps. The Bactrian camel is also heavier and has a longer coat. While Arabian camels are now all domesticated, some Bactrian camels still live in the wild in the Gobi desert, between southwest Mongolia and northwest China. These wild camels were widespread until 1920. Now they are endangered.

Two thousand years ago, travelers rode on Bactrian camels and used them to carry good and supplies across the plains of Asia. This camel can carry a load of more than 450 pounds. It can travel 20 to 25 mile a day on high, dry plateaus, climbing aloung mountaintops more than 10,000 feet high.

A Bactrian camel can outrace a horse over long distances. The camel can run for several hours without stopping. In the summer, it can easily survive for 2 or 3 days without food and water. In winter, it can live without food and water for up to a week.

In the wild, the Bactrian camel lives in small groups that look for grazing grounds in the desert of Central Asia. Grasses, leaves, and bushes make up its daily food. The mating season begins in February. The female carries the single young for 13 months, and the baby camel is born in March of the following year.