Painting the Bactrian Camel

I'm proud of myself; this picture was heavily referenced from sketches of camels at the San Diego Zoo. I also had photos I took of cute baby camels at the fair to help with textures. I had to paint the shadows with purple instead of blue, so it wouldn't look too green.

My only regret is that in this pose, you can't see the camel's neato feet. I was surprised that bactrians are as endangered as they are, with all the domesticated ones around the world. Some bactrian camels have fun hairstyles, so I made mine have a cool 'do too.

Bactrian Camel

Wild Bactrian Camels, Camelus bactrianus, live in the harsh Gobi Desert. These animals have smaller, more conical humps than domestic camels; they're also less bulky. Their long eyelashes and sealable nostrils keep out the frequent sandstorms. There are over a million domesticated bactrians, but the wild variety is critically endangered. The camels, numbering less than 1,000, are threatened by resource and habitat competition with livestock and hunting.

EDGE Focal Species

The ZSL has chosen ten high-ranking species to be the focal species for 2007. These animals had little or no conservation attention, and will be researched further. Here are this year's focal species.

Yangtze River dolphin – Lipotes vexillifer
Long-beaked echidna – Zaglossus bruijni
Hispaniolan solenodon – Solenodon paradoxus
Bactrian camel – Camelus bactrianus
Pygmy hippopotamus – Hexaprotodon liberiensis
Slender loris – Loris tardigradus
Hirola – Damaliscus hunteri
Golden-rumped elephant shrew – Rhynchocyon chrysopygus
Bumblebee bat – Craseonycteris thonglongyai
Long-eared jerboa – Euchoreutes naso