Bactrian camel
Camelus bactrianus Linnaeus, 1758
Status not recordedmammals
The bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus), also called the two-humped camel, is a mammal in the family Camelidae, order Artiodactyla. It is a giant terrestrial herbivore with a representative adult body mass of 690 kg, and it is active during the day.
Quick facts about the bactrian camel
Gestation lasts 396.5 days (1.1 years), females have 1 young per litter at a rate of 0.5 litters per year, and sexual maturity comes at 3.5 years. Its lifespan is listed as 35.4 years, with a highest reported value of 40 years.
- Weight
- 475 kg – 690 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 35.4 years – 40 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 397 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 3.5 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 0.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the bactrian camel
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the bactrian camel live?
Not recorded
What is the bactrian camel?
The Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus), also known as the Mongolian camel, domestic Bactrian camel, two-humped camel or double-humped camel, is a camel native to the steppes of Central Asia. It has two humps on its back, in contrast to the single-humped dromedary. Its population of 2 million exists mainly in the domesticated form. Their name comes from the ancient historical region of Bactria.
The domesticated Bactrian camel has served as pack animals in inner Asia since ancient times. With its tolerance for cold, drought, and high altitudes, it enabled the travel of caravans on the Silk Road. Bactrian camels, whether domesticated or feral, are a separate species from the wild Bactrian camel (Camelus ferus), which is the only truly wild (as opposed to feral) species of camelid in the Old World. Domestic Bactrian camels do not descend from wild Bactrian camels, with the two species having split around 1 million years ago.
From the Wikipedia article “Bactrian camel” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bactrian_camel&oldid=1384185781), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the bactrian camel endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the bactrian camel classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderArtiodactyla
- familyCamelidae
- genusCamelus
- SpeciesCamelus bactrianus Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Camelus bactrianus bactrianus
Other names and names in other languages (85)
- Domestic Bactrian camelEnglish
- Two-humped camelEnglish
- Baktriese KameelAfrikaans
- جمل ذو سنامينArabic
- بعير ذو سنامينArabic
- جمل ذو سنامين مستأنسArabic
- camellu bactrianuAsturian
- İkihürgüclü dəvəAzerbaijani
- Вярблюд двухгорбыBelarusian
- Двугърба камилаBulgarian
- Kañval BaktriaBreton
- Camell bactriàCatalan
- CammelluCorsican
- velbloud dvouhrbýCzech
- Baktrisk kamelDanish
- TrampeltierGerman
- Baktrisches KamelGerman
- KamelGerman
- Zweihöckriges KamelGerman
- Βακτριανή ΚαμήλαGreek
- Κάμηλος η βακτριανήGreek
- Baktria kameloEsperanto
- camello asiáticoSpanish
- Camello BactrianoSpanish
- GameluBasque
- شتر دوکوهانهPersian
- kameliFinnish
- Kaksikyttyräinen kameliFinnish
- Chameau de BactrianeFrench
- camelo bactrianoGalician
- Baktrijska kamilaSerbian (Latin)
- גמל דו-דבשתיHebrew
- Dvogrba devaCroatian
- Domaća dvogrba devaCroatian
- Kétpúpú teveHungarian
- házi kétpúpú teveHungarian
- Երկսապատավոր ուղտArmenian
- Unta BaktriaIndonesian
- KameldýrIcelandic
- CammelloItalian
- Cammello battrianoItalian
- Cammello della BattrianaItalian
- フタコブラクダJapanese
- フタコブラクダ（家畜種）Japanese
- Айыр өркешті түйеKazakh
- 쌍봉낙타Korean
- 박트리아낙타Korean
- ТөөKyrgyz
- эки өркөчтүүKyrgyz
- Dvikupris kupranugarisLithuanian
- Кокпӱгыран тӱеMari
- ബാക്ട്രീയൻ ഒട്ടകംMalayalam
- Ghą́ą́ʼnaakiskʼidiiNavajo
- TamkamelNorwegian Bokmål
- BaktriakamelNorwegian Bokmål
- KameelDutch
- Gedomesticeerde KameelDutch
- Verwilderde KameelDutch
- Camelus bactrianusOccitan
- baktrianPolish
- Wielbłąd domowyPolish
- Wielbłąd dwugarbnyPolish
- CameloPortuguese
- camelo-asiáticoPortuguese
- Camelo-bactrianoPortuguese
- БактрианRussian
- Двугорбый верблюдRussian
- CamidduSicilian
- ťavaSlovak
- dvogrba kamelaSlovenian
- Двогрба камилаSerbian
- Dwupuklato kamelaSilesian
- இரட்டைத்திமில் ஒட்டகம்Tamil
- อูฐสองหนอกThai
- deveTurkish
- Çift hörgüçlüTurkish
- Çift hörgüçlü deveTurkish
- Çift Hörgüçlü Evcil DeveTurkish
- ئوتتۇرا ئاسىيا ياۋا تۆگىسىUyghur
- Верблюд двогорбийUkrainian
- Двогорбий верблюдUkrainian
- Lạc đà hai bướuVietnamese
- 野骆驼Chinese
- 双峰骆驼Chinese
- 雙峰駱駝Chinese
Relatives of the bactrian camel
Other species in the same genus Camelus.
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CompareBactrian camel vs DromedaryBactrian camel vs Wild camelBactrian camel vs Camelus grattardi
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
How heavy is a bactrian camel?
The bactrian camel has a representative adult body mass of 690 kg, which places it in the giant size class (over 250 kg).
What does a bactrian camel eat?
The bactrian camel is a herbivore.
How long does a bactrian camel live?
Its lifespan is listed as 35.4 years, and the highest value reported by our sources is 40 years.
What kind of animal is the bactrian camel?
The bactrian camel is a mammal in the family Camelidae, order Artiodactyla. It is terrestrial and diurnal.
How many young does a bactrian camel have?
A bactrian camel has 1 young per litter, at a rate of 0.5 litters per year, after a gestation of 396.5 days (1.1 years).
When does a bactrian camel reach sexual maturity?
The bactrian camel reaches sexual maturity at 1,278 days (3.5 years).
Who named the bactrian camel?
The bactrian camel, Camelus bactrianus, was named by Linnaeus, 1758.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/bactrian-camel
“Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/bactrian-camel.
@misc{bactrian_camel_2026,
title = {Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/bactrian-camel},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}