In September, four German camel experts, one Mongolian nomad, a bunch of camels and I, a Dutch radio journalist, will embark on a journey through the Gobi desert. The camel experts – all women – are on a quest: they are hoping to save the critically endangered wild camel, of which there are only about 1200 individuals left, from extinction. The women will study the threats that the wild camels are facing and hope to meet some of the local nomads who could play a crucial role in the survival of the species.
And I? I will tag along and make a radio documentary about their adventures.

I must admit that I had never been particularly interested in camels before. I didn’t even know that wild camels existed. It had just never come to mind, let alone that I knew that they are an endangered species. But this all changed when I met Birgit Dörges, a behavioral scientist who talks with so much love about the camels that she has studied as other people would talk about their children. Lees verder →