Desert Explorer and Founder of the WILD CAMEL PROTECTION FOUNDATION, John Hare, Travels to North America to Share the Miraculous Story of the Bactrian Camel's Ability to Survive 43 Atmospheric Nuclear Tests

Real Life Explorer has traveled the deserts of the world, his only concession to modern technology being a satellite telephone

POINT ROBERTS, WA, May 19, 2005 - Wild Heart Ranch, Inc., a children's toy and publishing company, creator of the new children's book, "Bradford and the Desert of Lop" and the accompanying plush toy, “Judy” the wild camel, is pleased to participate in the North American lecture tour of John Hare, explorer and founder of The Wild Camel Protection Foundation (WCPF) www.wildcamels.com. Mr. Hare, along with Jane Goodall as WCPF’s patron has committed his life to saving the critically endangered wild bactrian camels.

The wild camels’ immune systems and DNA may hold secrets that can benefit mankind. The wild camels’ ability to drink and metabolize only salt water to survive and their ability to breed naturally - in an area which was formally a nuclear test site may provide clues for humanity. The camels survived 43 atmospheric nuclear tests in Lop Nur, a former nuclear test site from which foreign travelers have been barred for almost 50 years. In 1999 John Hare's expedition observed 169 camels and also encountered one with a day-old calf, a scene never before recorded.

Read John Hare's profile by clicking here: http://www.wildheartranch.com/ourBrands/ob_JohnHareProfile.htm

Fall 2005 Lecture Synopsis

John Hare has managed to obtain permission to enter an area which has been prohibited to foreigners for over fifty years. John Hare, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Explorers’ Club of America has lectured to the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, the United Nations, the Great Britain-China Centre, the British Camelid Society and the Scientific Exploration Society. He has lectured in the USA to the National Geographic Society, The Smithsonian, the American Museum of Natural History, the Explorers’ Club, the China Institute, to Societies in Hong Kong, China and Kenya and to numerous zoos, schools and colleges. John Hare has been awarded the Ness award by the RGS and the Lawrence of Arabia Award by the Royal Society of Asian Affairs

Lecture 1: Expeditions into the former Chinese nuclear test area of Lop Nur in search of the critically endangered wild Bactrian camel.

John Hare has made four expeditions to the Mongolian and Chinese Gobi deserts. The first expedition was in 1993 with Russian scientists and the second, third and fourth with Chinese scientists in 1995, 1996 and 1997. He is the first recorded foreigner to have crossed the Gashun Gobi from north to south. These expeditions were primarily concerned with tracking down the mysterious, wild Bactrian camel Camelus bactrianus ferus which lives in the heartland of the desert and is the ancestor of all domestic Bactrian stock. There are under a thousand left in the world and the wild Bactrian camel is more endangered than the giant Panda. The vast and still partially unknown region of the Gashun Gobi encompasses the Chinese nuclear testing area and in 1995 he was fortunate enough to obtain permission to travel there. He was also able to take unique photographs of a wild camel with a seven-hour-old calf. It had given birth deep in the remote Kum Tagh sand dunes.

Lecture 2: The 1999 wild Bactrian camel survey in the Gobi desert of China illustrated with 60 color slides - 50 minutes

This survey traversed some hitherto unexplored sand dunes near the northern Tibet escarpment that led John Hare into two undiscovered valleys holding pockets of wildlife that had no fear of man. In addition to seeing 169 wild Bactrian camels the expedition also saw the Tibetan ass, Argali wild sheep, wolves and bears. The expedition had many adventures, including an encounter with wolves and a ‘black’ sand storm.

The survey resulted in the establishment of a new Chinese national nature reserve to protect the critically endangered wild Bactrian camel.

Lecture 3: Across the Sahara from Lake Chad to Tripoli by camel
Illustrated with 60 color slides - 50 minutes

From October 26th 2001 until February 1st 2002 John Hare made a crossing of the Sahara by camel following one of the most ancient highways in the world: The camel route from Lake Chad to Tripoli. The journey he undertook with camels from Kukawa in Borno State, northern Nigeria to Tripoli in Libya lasted from October 26th 2001 to February 2nd 2002 (three and a half months) and covered 1462 miles. He had no assistance from any mechanical conveyance whatsoever and the only concession to modern technology was a satellite telephone. The route followed one of the four great camel roads that crossed the Sahara prior to the introduction of the internal combustion engine. It encompassed both Niger and Libya in their entirety from north to south. The last foreigner to make the complete crossing was by Hanns Vischer in 1906 and it has not been traversed in its entirety since that date.

WILD CAMEL PROTECTION FOUNDATION
The Wild Camel Protection Foundation (WCPF), a UK based charitable foundation with Jane Goodall as its patron, was established in 1997 specifically to protect the critically endangered wild Bactrian camel in its pristine desert environment in the Gobi deserts of China and Mongolia.

Its outstanding achievement is to have raised finances and persuaded the Chinese government to establish a 150,000 square kilometer national Nature Reserve to protect the wild Bactrian camel in Lop Nur, China’s former nuclear test area. The wild Bactrian camel survives in this harsh environment on a salt-water slush that no other mammal can tolerate. In addition, the wild Bactrian camel has survived over 40 atmospheric nuclear tests and current scientific research is showing that it has a base genetic make-up which varies from the domestic Bactrian camel by as much as 3 per cent.

Patron: Dr Jane Goodall CBE
A registered Charity in the United Kingdom, Number 1068706
Registered in the USA 25.06.2001 No 1209493

Wild Heart Ranch Introduces “Judy”, a plush wild Bactrian camel from the story “Bradford and the Journey to the Desert of Lop”. More info: http://www.wildheartranch.com/corporate/whr_NR033005.asp

About Wild Heart Ranch: Follow Us to the Depths of Imagination...
Wild Heart Ranch, Inc. is a publishing, entertainment and toy company that creates and licenses non-violent toys and products based on original ideas, stories and characters. The unique combined elements of light, magic and branded stars and moons on the plush toys identify us in the marketplace.

To become a sponsor or request lectures please contact:

John Hare, Founder
The Wild Camel Protection Foundation
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://wildcamels.com
or
Wild Heart Ranch
Toll Free: 1.888.889.9213
Dawn Van Zant
E-mail: [email protected]