Tracking wild camels with satellites
Remote sensing specialist Liu Shaochuang is trying to save critically endangered wild camels using space technology. Wild camels have roamed the arid plains of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia and China for thousands of years, but now only approximately 1,000 remain. Using satellite trackers and remote sensing technology, Liu is offering new insight into changes in their habitat that could be key to preserving them.
In 2011, Liu travelled to the Gobi Desert, whose dry, rocky landscape was ideal for testing the Chang’e 3 lunar rover. While there, he was told of the plight of the wild camel, whose numbers were dwindling as a result of climate change, habitat loss, predation, hunting, disease, domestication and crossbreeding by humans.
