Editing Camel (section)

==Distribution and numbers==

[[File:GueltaCamels.jpg|thumb|alt=A view into a canyon: many camels gathering around a watering hole|Camels in the [[Guelta d'Archei]], in northeastern [[Chad]]]]

There are approximately 14 million camels alive {{as of|2010|lc=yes}}, with 90% being dromedaries.<ref name=dolby10 /> Dromedaries alive today are [[List of domesticated animals|domesticated animals]] (mostly living in the [[Horn of Africa]], the [[Sahel]], [[Maghreb]], [[Middle East]] and [[South Asia]]). The Horn region alone has the largest concentration of camels in the world,<ref name="Bernstein">{{cite book|first=William J.|last=Bernstein|title=A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World|publisher=Grove Press|year=2009|page=56|isbn=9780802144164}}</ref> where the dromedaries constitute an [[Nomadic pastoralism|important part of local nomadic life]]. They provide nomadic people in Somalia<ref name=mukasa81 /> and Ethiopia with milk, food, and transportation.<ref name=fao12 /><ref name=abokor87>{{cite book| publisher = Nordic Africa Institute| isbn = 9789171062697| last = Abokor| first = Axmed Cali| title = The Camel in Somali Oral Tradition| year = 1987 |pages=7, 10–11}}</ref><ref name=un03>{{cite web| title = Drought threatening Somali nomads, UN humanitarian office says| work = UN News Centre| access-date = 7 December 2012| date = 14 November 2003| url = https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=8894&Cr=somalia&Cr1=| quote = A four-year drought is threatening the lives of Somali nomads, and those of the camel herds on which they depend for transportation and milk| url-status = live| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111119005808/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=8894&Cr=somalia&Cr1=| archive-date = 19 November 2011}}</ref><ref name=farah04>{{cite journal| volume = 6| issue = 1| pages = 45–55| last1 = Farah| first1 = K. O.| first2 = D. M. |last2=Nyariki|first3= R. K. |last3=Ngugi|first4=I. M.|last4=Noor|first5=A. Y.|last5=Guliye| title = The Somali and the Camel: Ecology, Management and Economics| journal = Anthropologist| year = 2004|quote=Somali pastoralists are a camel community...There is no other community in the world where the camel plays such a pivotal role in the local economy and culture as in the Somali community. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, 1979) estimates, there are approximately 15 million dromedary camels in the world| doi = 10.1080/09720073.2004.11890828| s2cid = 4980638}} [http://www.mbali.info/doc265.htm Plain text version.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130102084140/http://www.mbali.info/doc265.htm |date=2013-01-02 }}</ref>

[[File:800px-2003camel.PNG|thumb|left|upright=1.35|alt=A world map with large camel populations marked|Commercial camel market headcount in 2003]]

Over one million dromedary camels are estimated to be [[Australian feral camel|feral in Australia]], descended from those introduced as a method of transport in the 19th and early 20th centuries.<ref name=NTgov>{{cite web|title=Feral camel|url=https://nt.gov.au/environment/animals/feral-animals/feral-camel|date=17 August 2015|access-date=10 March 2022|publisher=Northern Territory government}}</ref> This population is growing about 8% per year;<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Pople | first1 = A. R. | last2 = McLeod | first2 = S. R. | doi = 10.1071/RJ09053 | title = Demography of feral camels in central Australia and its relevance to population control | journal = The Rangeland Journal | volume = 32 | page = 11 | year = 2010 | issue = 1 | bibcode = 2010RangJ..32...11P | s2cid = 83822347 | url = http://era.daf.qld.gov.au/id/eprint/1736/ |via=DAF eResearch Archive |s2cid-access=free |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329050756/https://era.daf.qld.gov.au/id/eprint/1736/ |archive-date= Mar 29, 2024 }}</ref> it was estimated at 700,000 in 2008.<ref name=cnn10 /><ref name=dolby10 /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Saalfeld |first1=W.K. |last2=Edwards |first2=GP |issn=1832-6684 |year=2008 |title=Managing the impacts of feral camels in Australia: a new way of doing business |chapter=Ecology of feral camels in Australia |id=Report 47 |publisher=Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre |location=Alice Springs |isbn=978-1-74158-094-5 |chapter-url=http://www.desertknowledgecrc.com.au/resource/DKCRC-Report-47-Managing-the-impacts-of-feral-camels-in-Australia_A-new-way-of-doing-business.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329053749/http://www.desertknowledgecrc.com.au/resource/DKCRC-Report-47-Managing-the-impacts-of-feral-camels-in-Australia_A-new-way-of-doing-business.pdf |archive-date=2012-03-29 |access-date=2011-12-25 }}</ref> Representatives of the Australian government have culled more than 100,000 of the animals in part because the camels use too much of the limited resources needed by sheep farmers.<ref>{{cite web|last=Tsai |first=Vivian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011072811/http://www.ibtimes.com/australia-culls-100000-feral-camels-limit-environmental-damage-many-more-will-be-killed-789326 |archive-date=11 October 2012 |url=http://www.ibtimes.com/australia-culls-100000-feral-camels-limit-environmental-damage-many-more-will-be-killed-789326 |title=Australia Culls 100,000 Feral Camels To Limit Environmental Damage, Many More Will Be Killed |date=14 September 2012 |work=[[International Business Times]] |access-date=1 November 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

A small population of introduced camels, dromedaries and Bactrians, wandered through [[Southwestern United States]] after having been imported in the 19th century as part of the [[U.S. Camel Corps]] experiment. When the project ended, they were used as draft animals in mines and escaped or were released. Twenty-five U.S. camels were bought and exported to Canada during the [[Cariboo Gold Rush]].<ref name=mantz06/>

The Bactrian camel is, {{as of|2010|lc=yes}}, reduced to an estimated 1.4&nbsp;million animals, most of which are domesticated.<ref name=fedewa00/><ref name=dolby10>{{cite book| publisher = Random House Digital, Inc| isbn = 9780307716255| last = Dolby| first = Karen| title = You Must Remember This: Easy Tricks & Proven Tips to Never Forget Anything, Ever Again| date = 10 August 2010 | page=170}}</ref><ref name=denverzoo>{{cite web|publisher=Denver Zoo |title=Bactrian Camel |access-date=7 December 2012 |url=http://www.denverzoo.org/downloads/dzoo_bactrian_camel.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512074950/http://www.denverzoo.org/downloads/dzoo_bactrian_camel.pdf |archive-date=12 May 2013 }}</ref> The [[Wild Bactrian camel]] is the only truly wild (as opposed to feral) camel in the world. It is a distinct species that is not ancestral to the domestic Bactrian camel. The wild camels are critically endangered and number approximately 950, inhabiting the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts in China and Mongolia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jemmett |first1=Anna M. |last2=Groombridge |first2=Jim J. |last3=Hare |first3=John |last4=Yadamsuren |first4=Adiya |last5=Burger |first5=Pamela A. |last6=Ewen |first6=John G. |date=March 2023 |title=What's in a name? Common name misuse potentially confounds the conservation of the wild camel Camelus ferus |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0030605322000114/type/journal_article |journal=Oryx |language=en |volume=57 |issue=2 |pages=175–179 |doi=10.1017/S0030605322000114 |issn=0030-6053}}</ref>
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