Increasing Camel Awareness

Since Joe Camel was banned from broadcasts in 1997, national CPC (not cost per click, rather camels per channel) has declined drastically over the past decade plus, resulting in completely inadequate camel coverage. There simply aren’t many camels in the Americas, the few present residing in captivity, making it difficult for much of the population to truly understand the animal’s majesty in its natural habitat. Despite numerous petitions to Directv, Time Warner, Dish Network, among a host of other major television service providers, it seems the public’s outcry for a dedicated “camel channel” has failed to make an urgent impact, falling largely on deaf ears.Even in the heyday of cigarette ads, representation of real life camels has always been underwhelming at best. The sad truth is that many issues facing the camel family of species in nature go underreported in Western nations. It is commonly assumed that because camel populations have overrun certain areas or arid land, camels are alive and well without need for human assistance or compassion. While one-humped camels, or Dromedary camels, abound in terms of total number, their Bactrian camel brethren has fared less favorably in the ongoing evolutionary survival scale. Over thirteen million dromedary camels walk the desert today, domesticated in Northern Africa, the Middle East and the Outback.On the other hand, Bactrian camels,of the two-humped variety, have been domesticated with less frequency, with only 1.4 million estimated to still be in existence. In fact, wild Bactrian camels are listed as “Critically Endangered” according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. Only close to 800 Bactrian camels currently roam their natural habitat in remote parts of China and Mongolia, with no significant presence elsewhere. This may be of little concern to some who interpret the gaudy 1.4 million number as an adequate number for preservation; however, the wild Bactrian camel is genetically unique, even compared to its domesticated counterpart. The Zoological Society of London includes the Bactrian camel among its list of the 100 most evolutionarily distinct but globally endangered animals, emphasizing the importance of keeping the small community of wild Bactrian camels sustainable. Losing the wild Bactrian camel all-together would entirely remove an inimitable animal from the Earth forever, a true tragedy. Yet, even many ecologically in-tune individuals see camels as sheep, failing to realize the importance regarding the survival of species within the camel family, as the priceless global treasure is too often viewed as a dime a dozen.