500 Tögrög Wild Bactrian Camel

The Wild Bactrian Camel (Camelus ferus) was not confirmed as a species distinct from the domesticated Bactrian until genetic studies in the early 2000s — so this 1999 issue predates the formal taxonomic split. At the time of minting, the wild population in the Gobi was already critically depleted, estimated at fewer than 1,000 animals. Mongolia issued several wildlife conservation pieces through the late 1990s under agreements with overseas minting agencies, most struck to relatively modest specifications and sold primarily to the collector market rather than circulated domestically.