THE CURATED LIFE
BY NICHOLAS FOULKES
IF IT’S OFTEN said that cockroaches will survive the coming nuclear apocalypse, a case could also be made for the survival potential of Camelus bactrianus. About 1.4 million of these twinhumped camels call northern Asia home; many can be found knocking about the Gobi Desert, a place of 90-mile-per-hour winds where the temperature swings from minus 40 to plus 50 C. The climate is so inhospitable that nuking might actually improve things. Yet in spite of all, the camels amble on—partly because their hair has marvelous thermal insulation properties.