Extant only as a domestic or feral animal

Question

HiIn the definition below it seems I don't understand the intended meaning of the underlined phrase "extant only as a domestic or a feral animal". An animal could be either wild or domesticated. From that underlined detail in the definition I assume that the one-humped camel is available in both varieties - i.e. domesticated and feral. Therefore, I think it would have been more correct to say, 'extant as both domestic and feral animal'. Do I make sense? Please let me know. Thank you.camel1 : either of two large ruminant mammals (genus Camelus) used as draft and saddle animals in desert regions especially of Africa and Asia:  a : the one-humped camel (C. dromedarius) extant only as a domestic or feral animal—  called also dromedary  b : the 2-humped camel (C. bactrianus syn. C. ferus) of Chinese Turkestan and Mongolia —  called also Bactrian camel[M-W's Col. Dic]RegardsJackson

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

I think the point is that the one-humped camel is not naturally-occurring in the wild. The only wild dromedaries are the feral animals which escaped captivity (or their offspring.) There are two separate species of camels; both have been domesticated.

http://tolweb.org/Camelini/30348

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel

Anonymous · Answer

This means that dromedaries exist today only as domesticated animals or as domesticated animals that have escaped or have been let loose, that is, as feral dromedaries (there are many of these in Australia).  That is, there are no truly wild dromedaries left today.  What has happened apparently with dromedaries is that they were domesticated in very early times from some wild species.  The wild species then died out or was wiped out, or, every last wild dromedary was rounded up and domesticated many years ago.  (Curiously, the Bactrian camel apparently still exists today as a wild animal.)  This situation is not uncommon today.  There are other animals like this:  house cats, burros, cattle, horses.

Jackson6612 · Answer

Thank you, Alphecca

's, Anon.

The part of the reason for my confusion was due to the fact that I was focusing too much on the definition 2a. But the sense of 'feral' used in the definition of 'camel' is 2b which is compatible with the explanation given by Alphecca and Anon.

But now I'm just curious to know that how do they know that the dromedaries found in the wild aren't naturally occurring wild but are feral ones?

feral
1 : of, relating to, or suggestive of a wild beast feral teeth* *feral instincts
2 a : not domesticated or cultivated : WILD b : having escaped from domestication and become wild feral cats
[M-W's Col. Dic.]

camel
1 : either of two large ruminant mammals (genus Camelus) used as draft and saddle animals in desert regions especially of Africa and Asia: a : the one-humped camel (C. dromedarius) extant only as a domestic or feral animal — called also dromedary b : the 2-humped camel (C. bactrianus syn. C. ferus) of Chinese Turkestan and Mongolia — called also Bactrian camel
[M-W's Col. Dic.]

Regards
Jackson

Mister Micawber · Answer

But now I'm just curious to know that how do they know that the dromedaries found in the wild aren't naturally occurring wild but are feral ones?-- Biological research, that is all. The area has been studied, and the extirpation of the wild population has been documented, as has the reintroduction of domestic animals, either intentionally or as escapees.

Enoon · Answer

Jackson6612feral1 : of, relating to, or suggestive of a wild beast feral teeth* *feral instincts2 a : not domesticated or cultivated : WILD b : having escaped from domestication and become wild feral cats[M-W's Col. Dic.]

That's the trouble with descriptivist dictionaries. "Feral" does not mean "wild", it means "once domesticated and now living wild."

Anonymous · Answer

The dromedary is apparently native to North Africa and Arabia.  If you look around in those areas today, there are absolutely zero wild dromedaries - and there no feral ones there either.  Apparently thousands of years ago every last wild one was rounded up and domesticated, it being such a valuable domestic animal to the people in those areas.  In the Australian Outback there are thousands of feral dromedaries, descendants of domestic ones that escaped or were let loose.  But, although they live like wild creatures, these are not truly wild dromedaries since they are not native to Australia.  Thus, there are no truly wild dromedaries today.  The last truly wild ones were rounded up and domesticated thousands of years ago in N. Africa and Arabia.  This is similar to the situation with cattle and horses today.  There are no wild cattle or horses (just feral ones) anywhere in the world today.  Thousands of years ago every last wild cattle and horse was rounded up and domesticated, since they were such valuable domestic animals.

Anonymous · Answer

Wild, feral, tame, and domestic are all very commonly confused terms but they are all distinct. As for how they can tell that feral dromedaries are not wild, "domestic" implies that there is a measurable genetic difference between the domestic species and the wild one (such as domestic vs. wild yaks). Feral animals will have the same genetic profile of the domestic species, and therefore can be differentiated from the wild species. The dromedary camel, in the conservationist's world, is considered "extinct in the wild" even though they still exist in huge numbers - it is the domestic species that is extant, not the wild one.
And just as a point of clarification, multiple response have cited horses as being an identical situation, which isn't true. Most of the "wild" horses you hear about are indeed domestic animals, albeit in a feral state - mustangs are a prime example. There is, however, one remaining horse that is truly wild - Przewalski's (sha-vahl-skee's) Wild Horse, which is native to Mongolia and critically endangered.

Mister Micawber · Answer

It is also clear that domestic, etc, are not different species; at most, they are varieties—and I would like to see some data that indicate measurable genetic differences within any species where the domestic/feral/wild populations look alike (here making exceptions of long-domesticated species like the dog and cat, whose wild progenitors are no longer surely identifiable.

There are only 2 species of camel, for instance, the Dromedary of the Middle East (Camelus dromedarius) and the Bactrian Camel of central Asia (Camelus bactrianus): tame or wild, feral, endemic or domestic, any camel you see is one of these two species.

Extant only as a domestic or feral animal

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