Touched by its loyalty, a herdsman from Urad Rear Banner in the northwest of the city of Bayannur, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, decided to raise a camel he had sold to a friend for the rest of its life after it walked more than 100 kilometers alone back to its old home. Photo: Screenshot from a video by Pear Video

A camel owner from Urad Rear Banner, in the northwest of the city of Bayannur, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, decided to take back a camel he had sold to his friend and raise it for the rest of its life after it walked more than 100 kilometers alone back home.

The owner, Temur (transliteration), said he sold his docile camel in October 2019 to a friend who wanted to raise camels, according to a video posted by Pear Video on Sina Weibo recently.

"They [Temur's friend's family] raised the camel in their hometown in winter and grazed it in the mountains in spring," said Temur. "But it ran away from my friend's place on June 27, just one day after they cut its fur."

According to the video, the camel walked more than 100 kilometers alone, wading through mountains and rivers, crossing fences and highways before it finally got home. 

"When we heard the news, we wanted to bring back the camel, but its current owner had already caught it back to his place," said Temur's wife in the video.

"So we contacted the buyer and decided to replace the old camel with a 3-year-old female. After we got it back, I was so distressed when I found that it had lot of wounds on its body, as it must have got crossing the fences," she noted, adding that camels are very spiritual animals.

We will not sell it to anyone else anymore, as camels are intelligent animals, she added. "It will be free for the rest of its life."

Temur said that he has decided to raise the camel till it dies.

The video went viral on the Chinese internet and has been viewed more than 16 million times as of Wednesday.

Many internet users were touched by the camel's loyalty and applauded Temur's decision to take care of it.

"I can't imagine the hardship it encountered. It must have missed its home so much," one commented.

"Every animal has a soul. I hope that there will be less killing in the world and humans can coexist peacefully with all living things," said another.

However, some netizens were also concerned about the fate of the 3-year-old female camel that replaced it.

"What has she done to deserve this? Will she also run all the way back home?" one asked.