NEWS FROM THE CRYPTOZOOLOGICAL GARDEN
ONE HUMP OR TWO?
Fresh from documenting one newly revealed example of an ancient Middle Eastern mammalian hybrid purposefully created by humans – the kunga (a Syrian wild ass x domestic donkey crossbreed, now extinct, ) – I have now learned of a second example. Dating back to the second century AD, the Temple of Allat in the northern Iraq city of Hatra was severely damaged by Daesh terrorists between 2015 and 2017, so a team of archæologists with two central Asian two-humped Bactrian camels in the middle. Whereas the lighter, faster dromedary is predominantly used for riding and even racing, the heavier and much hardier Bactrian camel is a very effective pack animal that is far more resistant to extreme cold and drought.
