🐫 Bactrian camel
Also known as: Camelus bactrianus
The two-humped camel of the steppes and deserts of Central Asia.
The Bactrian is the two-humped camel of the cold deserts and steppes of Central Asia: Mongolia, Kazakhstan and northern China. It withstands both summer heat and freezing winters. According to the FAO, the Bactrian, as a “mountain” camel, usually gives less milk than the one-humped dromedary.
Two-humped camels are milked by Kazakhs, Mongols and other peoples of the region. Bactrian milk differs in composition from cow’s milk: it is richer in fat and solids, and its composition varies noticeably with the area and pasture — as tests of milk from different provinces of Mongolia have shown.
Camel milk is made into the fermented drink shubat, and among Mongols, khoormog. In China and Kazakhstan, Bactrian milk has in recent years also begun to be processed industrially — dried, pasteurised and made into drinks.
How it connects to milk
🐫 Bactrian camel → belongs to → 🔬 Mammal → produces → 🥛 Milk
Links
- What milk it gives
- 🥛 Bactrian camel milk
- Feeds with milk
- 🍼 Camel calf
- Belongs to
- 🔬 Mammal
- Where it is milked
- 🌍 Central Asia
- Which peoples keep it
- 🧑🤝🧑 Mongols, 🧑🤝🧑 Kazakhs
- Part of
- 🐪 Camels
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a Bactrian camel and a dromedary?
The Bactrian has two humps and is adapted to cold winters; the dromedary has one hump, lives in hot deserts and usually gives more milk.
Are two-humped camels milked?
Yes, in Mongolia, Kazakhstan and China Bactrian milk is drunk fresh and fermented into shubat and khoormog.
What is khoormog?
The Mongolian name for a fermented drink made from camel milk.
Similar
🐪 She-camel · 🐎 Mare · 🦙 Llama · 🦙 Alpaca · 🐂 Musk ox · 🐕 Dog
Sources
- FAO — Dairy animals: Camels
- Bactrian Camel Milk: Chemical Composition, Bioactivities, Processing Techniques, and Economic Potential in China. Molecules, 2024
- Effects of Geographic Region on the Composition of Bactrian Camel Milk in Mongolia. Animals, 2019