| Only the tourist police, sitting inscrutably astride their camels and scanning the scene through binoculars, seem to act as a deterrent. |
| Mounted on their camels, they use dogs to bring their quarry to bay, and sharpened poles as lances. |
| In 2001, for example, the U.N. Environment Program declared that the wild Bactrian camels were a newly discovered species. |
| This impression was often based on an aversion to the strong odour of the camels rather than the cameleers themselves. |
| But the two-humped Bactrian camels the group of mainly middle-aged women were given to ride turned out to be a little too wild. |
| It is estimated that no more than 660 wild Bactrian camels, Camelus bactrianus ferus, and possibly as few as 500 survive in China. |
