China: A Central Asian depicted as a camel driver. Chinese terracotta sculpture from the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534 AD)

The Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) is a large even-toed ungulate native to the steppes of central Asia. It is presently restricted in the wild to remote regions of the Gobi and Taklimakan Deserts of Mongolia and Xinjiang.

There are a small number of wild Bactrian camels still roaming the Mangystau Province of South West Kazakhstan. It is one of the two surviving species of camel. The Bactrian camel has two humps on its back, in contrast to the single-humped Dromedary camel.

Camels were widely used in the Silk Road trade across the deserts of Central Asia.

Copyright:

Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

Guillaume Jacquet (PD)

Credit:

Pictures From History

Theme:

SILK ROAD