From late March to early April 2026, our team at the Sunskye Films embarked on an extraordinary expedition to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia to document a rare and remarkable event: the birth of Wild Camel calves.
Our journey took us from Ulaanbaatar to the Wild Camel Breeding Center in Toli Bulag, then onward to the breeding center in Zakhyn Us, before returning to the capital. In total, we spent nearly 64 hours on the road, covering over 2,600 kilometers (1,616 miles) across some of the most remote and rugged off-road terrain imaginable — deserts, mountains, and endless open steppe. That’s roughly the distance between New York City and Denver!
But this was no simple task. The camels roam a vast enclosure with many blind spots and predicting when or where a camel would give birth was nearly impossible. Although within the breeding center, the area is immense. Wild Camels are known to seek solitude during birth, often choosing isolated spots and giving birth during cooler hours like dawn or dusk. Tracking them from a distance without disturbing them — especially under low light conditions — was a serious challenge.
Our team worked in rotating shifts 24 hours a day, enduring harsh conditions that ranged from freezing nights at -5°C (23°F) to warm days that reached 20°C (68°F). We were driven by the hope of capturing a moment few have ever seen.
Wild Camels have a gestation period of 12 to 14 months, typically giving birth to a single calf every two years. Mothers nurse their calves for about a year. This spring, the centers anticipated seven births — four in Zakhyn Us and three in Toli Bulag, with the ones in Toli Bulag marking the first births at the new facility.
For the duration of the shoot, we lived in traditional Mongolian Gers, purpose-built as our mobile film base — two Gers at each breeding center. These round, felt-covered dwellings are ideal for the extreme environment. Easily dismantled and reassembled in under two hours by just a few people, Gers are designed to withstand harsh winds (over 100 km/h), snowstorms, and sandstorms — making them perfect shelters for our expedition.
After nearly two weeks of waiting in Toli Bulag, our patience was rewarded with a historic moment: the birth of the first Wild Camel calf at the new breeding center. Even more exciting, we successfully filmed the entire birth process — an unprecedented achievement in wildlife documentation. The footage will be featured in the upcoming documentary film about Wild Camels.
Over the following week, we continued to track other pregnant camels. While we missed a few additional births, including one that occurred out of our sight, we were proud to have documented such a critical and rare event. It was an unforgettable experience and a true team effort, made possible by dedication, endurance, and the shared belief in the importance of this story.