![Verbreitung von Kamelen in Australiien](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Verbreitung_von_Kamelen_in_Australiien.png)
Australian feral camels are
feral
A feral () animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some ...
populations of
dromedaries
The dromedary (''Camelus dromedarius'' or ;), also known as the dromedary camel, Arabian camel, or one-humped camel, is a large even-toed ungulate, of the genus ''Camelus'', with one hump on its back.
It is the tallest of the three species of ...
(''Camelus dromedarius'') in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. Imported from
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
and
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
during the 19th century for transport and construction during the colonisation of the
central and western parts of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, many were released into the wild after motorised transport replaced the use of camels in the early 20th century, resulting in a fast-growing feral population.
By 2008, it was
ncorrectlyfeared that Central Australia's feral camel population had grown to about one million and was projected to double every 8 to 10 years. Camels are known to cause serious degradation of local environmental and cultural sites, particularly during dry conditions. Pastoralists, representatives from the Central Land Council, and Aboriginal land holders in the relevant areas were those amongst the complainants. An AU$19 million culling program was funded in 2009, and by 2013 a total of 160,000 camels were slaughtered, estimating the feral population to have been reduced to around 300,000. A post-kill analysis projected the original count to be around 600,000, an estimating error from the original number greater than the totality of the cull.
History
![Misery Coolgardie](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Misery_Coolgardie.jpg)
Camels had been used successfully in desert exploration in other parts of the world. The first suggestion of importing camels into Australia was made in 1822 by Danish-French geographer and journalist
Conrad Malte-Brun
Conrad Malte-Brun (12 August 177514 December 1826), born Malthe Conrad Bruun, and sometimes referred to simply as Malte-Brun, was a Dano- French geographer and journalist. His second son, Victor Adolphe Malte-Brun, was also a geographer. Today h ...
, whose ''Universal Geography'' contains the following:
For such an expedition, men of science and courage ought to be selected. They ought to be provided with all sorts of implements and stores, and with different animals, from the powers and instincts of which they may derive assistance. They should have oxen from Buenos Aires, or from the English settlements, mules from Senegal, and dromedaries from Africa or Arabia. The oxen would traverse the woods and the thickets; the mules would walk securely among rugged rocks and hilly countries; the dromedaries would cross the sandy deserts. Thus the expedition would be prepared for any kind of territory that the interior might present. Dogs also should be taken to raise game, and to discover springs of water; and it has even been proposed to take pigs, for the sake of finding out esculent roots in the soil. When no kangaroos and game are to be found the party would subsist on the flesh of their own flocks. They should be provided with a balloon for spying at a distance any serious obstacle to their progress in particular directions, and for extending the range of observations which the eye would take of such level lands as are too wide to allow any heights beyond them to come within the compass of their view.
In 1839, Lieutenant-Colonel
George Gawler
Lieutenant-Colonel George Gawler, KH, (21 July 1795 – 7 May 1869) was the second Governor of South Australia, at the same time serving as Resident Commissioner, from 17 October 1838 until 15 May 1841.
Biography Early life
Gawler, born on 21 ...
, second Governor of South Australia, suggested that camels should be imported to work in the semi-arid regions of Australia.
The first camel arrived in Australia in 1840, ordered from the
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
by the Phillips brothers of Adelaide (Henry Weston Phillips (1818–1898); George Phillips (1820–1900); G M Phillips (unknown)). The ''Apolline'', under Captain William Deane, docked at Port Adelaide in South Australia on 12 October 1840, but all but one of the camels died on the voyage. The surviving camel was named Harry.
This camel, Harry, was used for inland exploration by pastoralist and explorer
John Ainsworth Horrocks
John Ainsworth Horrocks (22 March 1818 – 23 September 1846) was an English pastoralist and explorer who was one of the first European settlers in the Clare Valley of South Australia where, in 1840, he established the village of Penwortham.
...
on his ill-fated 1846 expedition into the arid South Australian interior near
Lake Torrens
Lake Torrens (Kuyani: ''Ngarndamukia'') is a large ephemeral, normally endorheic salt lake in central South Australia. After sufficiently extreme rainfall events, the lake flows out through the Pirie-Torrens corridor to the Spencer Gulf.
Isl ...
, in searching for new agricultural land. He became known as the 'man who was shot by his own camel'. On 1 September Horrocks was preparing to shoot a bird on the shores of Lake Dutton. His kneeling camel moved while Horrocks was reloading his gun, causing the gun to fire and injuring the middle fingers of his right hand and a row of teeth. Horrocks died of his wounds on 23 September in Penwortham after requesting that the camel be shot.
"Afghan" cameleers
Australia's first major inland expedition to use camels as a main form of transport was the
Burke and Wills expedition
The Burke and Wills expedition was organised by the Royal Society of Victoria in Australia in 1860–61. It consisted of 19 men led by Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills, with the objective of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the s ...
in 1860. The
Victorian Government
The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...
imported 24 camels for the expedition.
The first cameleers arrived on 9 June 1860 at Port Melbourne from
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
(then known as Kurrachee and then in British India) on the ship the ''Chinsurah'', to participate in the expedition. As described by the Victorian Exploration Expedition Committee, "the camels would be comparatively useless unless accompanied by their native drivers". The cameleers on the expedition included 45-year-old Dost Mahomed, who was bitten by a bull camel, leading to the permanent loss of use of his right arm, and Esa (Hassam) Khan from
Kalat, who fell ill near
Swan Hill
Swan Hill is a city in the northwest of Victoria, Australia on the Murray Valley Highway and on the south bank of the Murray River, downstream from the junction of the Loddon River. At , Swan Hill had a population of 11,508.
Indigenous Peopl ...
. They cared for the camels, loaded and unloaded equipment and provisions and located water on the expedition.
From the 1860s onward small groups of mainly
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
cameleers were shipped in and out of Australia at three-year intervals, to service
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
's inland pastoral industry. Carting goods and transporting
wool bale
A wool bale is a standard sized and weighted pack of classed wool compressed by the mechanical means of a wool press. This is the regulation required method of packaging for wool, to keep it uncontaminated and readily identifiable. A "bale of wool" ...
s by camel was a lucrative livelihood for them. As their knowledge of the Australian outback and economy increased, the cameleers began their own businesses, importing and running
camel train
A camel train or caravan is a series of camels carrying passengers and goods on a regular or semi-regular service between points. Despite rarely travelling faster than human walking speed, for centuries camels' ability to withstand harsh cond ...
s. By 1890 the camel business was dominated by the mostly Muslim merchants and brokers, commonly referred to as "Afghans" or "Ghans", despite their origin often being
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
, as well as
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
and
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
and
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. They belonged to four main groups:
Pashtuns
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
,
Baluchis,
Punjabis
The Punjabis ( Punjabi: ; ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ; romanised as Panjābīs), are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group associated with the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of eastern Pakistan and northwestern India. The ...
, and
Sindhis
Sindhis ( sd, سنڌي Perso-Arabic: सिन्धी Devanagari; ) are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group who speak the Sindhi language and are native to the province of Sindh in Pakistan. After the partition of British Indian empire in 1947, man ...
. At least 15,000 camels with their handlers are estimated to have come to Australia between 1870 and 1900. Most of these camels were dromedaries, especially from India, including the
Bikaneri war camel from
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...
who used riding camels sourced from the Dervish wars in British Somaliland, and lowland Indian camels for heavy work. Other dromedaries included the Bishari riding camel of
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
and
Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...
. A bull camel could be expected to carry up to , and camel strings could cover more than per day.
Camel studs were set up in 1866, by Sir Thomas Elder and Samuel Stuckey, at
Beltana
Beltana is a town north of Adelaide, South Australia. Beltana is known for continuing to exist long after the reasons for its existence had ceased. The town's history began in the 1870s with the advent of copper mining in the area, construction ...
and Umberatana Stations in South Australia. There was also a government stud camel farm at Londonderry, near
Coolgardie in
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
, established in 1894. These studs operated for about 50 years and provided high-class breeders for the Australian camel trade.
Camels continued to be used for inland exploration by
Peter Warburton
Colonel Peter Egerton-Warburton (16 August 1813 – 5 November 1889), often referred to as Major Warburton, was a British military officer, Commissioner of Police for South Australia, and an Australian explorer. In 1872 he sealed his legacy th ...
in 1873,
William Christie Gosse
William Christie Gosse (11 December 1842–12 August 1881), was an Australian explorer, who was born in Hoddesdon,"Gosse, William Christie (1842–1881)". ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Online Edition. Australian National University ...
in 1873,
Ernest Giles
William Ernest Powell Giles (20 July 1835 – 13 November 1897), best known as Ernest Giles, was an Australian explorer who led five major expeditions to parts of South Australia and Western Australia.
Early life
Ernest Giles was born in Bris ...
in 1875–76,
David Lindsay in 1885–1886,
Thomas Elder
Sir Thomas Elder, (5 August 1818 – 6 March 1897), was a Scottish-Australian pastoralist, highly successful businessman, philanthropist, politician, race-horse owner and breeder, and public figure. Amongst many other things, he is notable fo ...
in 1891–1892, on the
Calvert Expedition in 1896–97, and by
Cecil Madigan
Cecil Thomas Madigan (15 October 1889 – 14 January 1947) was an Australian explorer and geologist, academic, aerial surveyor, meteorologist, author and officer of the British army. He was born in Renmark, South Australia. His family had associ ...
in 1939. They were also used in the construction of the
Overland Telegraph Line
The Australian Overland Telegraph Line was a telegraphy system to send messages over long distances using cables and electric signals. It spanned between Darwin, in what is now the Northern Territory of Australia, and Adelaide, the capital o ...
, and carried pipe sections for the
Goldfields Water Supply Scheme
The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme is a pipeline and dam project that delivers potable water from Mundaring Weir in Perth to communities in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields, particularly Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. The project was commi ...
.
The introduction of the ''Immigration Restriction Act 1901'' and the
White Australia policy
The White Australia policy is a term encapsulating a set of historical policies that aimed to forbid people of non-European ethnic origin, especially Asians (primarily Chinese) and Pacific Islanders, from immigrating to Australia, starting i ...
made it more difficult for cameleers to enter Australia.
Camels go feral
With the departure of many cameleers in the early 20th century, and the introduction of motorised transportation in the 1920s and 1930s, some cameleers released their camels into the wild. Well suited to the arid conditions of Central Australia, these camels became the source for the large population of feral camels still existing today.
Camels and the Aboriginal people
Pitjantjatjara
The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are vari ...
man Andy Tjilari (1925–2015) described camping with his family as a child, when a man traveling with camels arrived in search of dingo scalps. When the initial shock wore off, Tjilari describes following the camels with his family, mimicking them and talking to them. The discovery led him to assert that "this horse is ignorant".
As the Afghan cameleers increasingly travelled through the inland, they encountered a diversity of Aboriginal groups. An exchange of skills, knowledge and goods soon developed. Some cameleers assisted Aboriginal people by carrying traditional exchange goods, including red ochre or the narcotic plant
pituri
Pituri, also known as mingkulpa, is a mixture of leaves and wood ash traditionally chewed as a stimulant (or, after extended use, a depressant) by Aboriginal Australians widely across the continent. Leaves are gathered from any of several specie ...
, along ancient trade routes such as the
Birdsville Track
The Birdsville Track is a notable outback road in Australia. The track runs between Birdsville in south-western Queensland and Marree, a small town in the north-eastern part of South Australia. It traverses three deserts along the route, the St ...
. The cameleers also brought new commodities such as sugar, tea, tobacco, clothing and metal tools to remote Aboriginal groups. Aboriginal people incorporated camel hair into their traditional string artefacts, and provided information on desert waters and plant resources. Some cameleers employed Aboriginal men and women to assist them on their long desert treks. This resulted in some enduring partnerships, and several marriages.
From 1928 to 1933, the missionary
Ernest Kramer undertook camel safaris in Central Australia with the aim of spreading the gospel. On most journeys, he employed Arrernte man Mickey Dow Dow as cameleer, guide and translator and sometimes a man called Barney. The first of Kramer's trips was to the
Musgrave Ranges
Musgrave Ranges is a mountain range in Central Australia, straddling the boundary of South Australia (Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara) and the Northern Territory (MacDonnell Shire), extending into Western Australia. It is between the Great V ...
and
Mann Ranges
The Mann Ranges are a mountain range in central Australia. It is located in the far northwest of South Australia, with a small section running over the border into the Northern Territory. It is part of the geological region known as the Musgrave ...
, and was sponsored by the Aborigines Friends Association, which sought a report on Indigenous living conditions. According to Kramer's biography, as the men travelled through the desert and encountered local people, they handed them boiled sweets, tea and sugar and played ''Jesus Loves Me'' on the gramophone. At night, using a "magic lantern projector", Kramer showed slides of
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
and the life of Christ. For many people, this was their first experience of Christmas and the event picturesquely established "an association between camels, gifts and Christianity that was not merely symbolic but had material reality".
By the 1930s, as the cameleers became displaced by motor transport, an opportunity arose for Aboriginal people. They learnt camel-handling skills and acquired their own animals, extending their mobility and independence in a rapidly changing frontier society.
This continued until at least the late 1960s. A documentary film, ''Camels and the Pitjantjara'', made by Roger Sandall, shot in 1968 and released in 1969, follows a group of Pitjantjara men who travel out from their base at Areyonga Settlement to capture a wild camel, tame it and add it to their domestic herds. They then use camels to help transport a large group of people from Areyonga to Papunya, three days walk.
Camels appear in
Indigenous Australian art
Indigenous Australian art includes art made by Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including collaborations with others. It includes works in a wide range of media including painting on leaves, bark painting, wood carving ...
, with examples held in collections of the
National Museum of Australia
The National Museum of Australia, in the national capital Canberra, preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation. It was formally established by the ''National Muse ...
and Museums Victoria.
Various
Australian Aboriginal languages
The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...
have adopted a word for the camel, including
Eastern Arrernte
Arrernte or Aranda (; ) or sometimes referred to as Upper Arrernte (Upper Aranda), is a dialect cluster in the Arandic language group spoken in parts of the Northern Territory, Australia, by the Arrernte people. Other spelling variations are ...
(kamule),
Pitjantjatjara
The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are vari ...
(kamula) and
Alyawarr
The Alyawarre, also spelt Alyawarr and also known as the Iliaura, are an Aboriginal Australian people, or language group, from the Northern Territory. The Alyawarre are made up of roughly 1,200 associated peoples and actively engage in local tra ...
(kamwerl).
Management
Australia has the largest population of
feral
A feral () animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some ...
camels and the only herd of dromedary (one-humped) camels exhibiting wild behaviour in the world. In 2008, the number of feral camels was estimated to be more than one million, with the capability of doubling in number every 8 to 10 years. In 2013, this estimate was revised to a population of 600,000 prior to culling operations, and around 300,000 camels after culling, with an annual growth of 10% per year.
Impacts of feral camels
Impact on the environment
Although their impact on the environment is not as severe as some other pests introduced in Australia, camels ingest more than 80% of the plant species available. Degradation of the environment occurs when densities exceed two animals per square kilometre, which is presently the case throughout much of their range in the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
where they are confined to two main regions: the
Simpson Desert
The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth-largest Deserts of Australia, Australian desert, with an area of .
The desert ...
and the western desert area of the
Central Ranges
Central Ranges (code CER) is an Australian bioregion, with an area of 101,640.44 square kilometres (39,244 sq mi) spreading across two states and one territory: South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory.[Great Sandy Desert
The Great Sandy Desert is an interim Australian bioregion,][IBRA Version 6.1](_blank)
data and
Tanami Desert
The Tanami Desert is a desert in northern Australia, situated in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
It has a rocky terrain with small hills, and cacti. The Tanami was the Northern Territory's final frontier and was not fully explored b ...
. Some traditional food plants harvested by Aboriginal people in these areas are seriously affected by camel-browsing. While having soft-padded feet makes soil erosion less likely, they do destabilise dune crests, which can contribute to erosion. Feral camels do have a noticeable impact on salt lake ecosystems, and have been found to foul waterholes.
The National Feral Camel Action Plan (see below) cited the following environmental impacts: "broad landscape damage including damage to vegetation through foraging behaviour and trampling, suppression of recruitment of some plant species, selective browsing on rare and threatened flora, damage to wetlands through fouling, trampling and sedimentation, competition with native animals for food and shelter and loss of sequestered carbon in vegetation".
Some researchers think feral camels may actually benefit ecologically by filling lost niches of extinct
Australian megafauna
The term Australian megafauna refers to the megafauna in Australia during the Pleistocene Epoch. Most of these species became extinct during the latter half of the Pleistocene, and the roles of human and climatic factors in their extinction are ...
, such as ''
Diprotodon
''Diprotodon'' (Ancient Greek: "two protruding front teeth") is an extinct genus of marsupial from the Pleistocene of Australia, containing one species, ''D. optatum''. The earliest finds date to 1.77 million to 780,000 years ago, but most speci ...
'' and ''
Palorchestes
''Palorchestes'' ("ancient leaper or dancer") is an extinct genus of terrestrial animal, terrestrial, herbivorous marsupials of the family (biology), family Palorchestidae. The genus was endemic to Australia, living from the Miocene through to th ...
'', and may contribute to decline
wildfire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...
s; a theory similar in a way to the concepts of
Pleistocene rewilding
Pleistocene rewilding is the advocacy of the reintroduction of extant Pleistocene megafauna, or the close ecological equivalents of extinct megafauna. It is an extension of the conservation practice of rewilding, which involves reintroducing spe ...
.
Camels can be an effective counter against introduced
weed
A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...
s.
Impact on infrastructure
Camels can do significant damage to infrastructure such as taps, pumps, and toilets, as a means to obtain water, particularly in times of severe drought. They can smell water at a distance of up to five kilometres, and are even attracted by moisture condensed by air conditioners.
[Camel cull in South Australia's remote APY Lands to begin, following sharp increase in population](_blank)
''ABC News'', 7 January 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2020. They also damage stock fences and cattle watering points. These effects are felt particularly in
Aboriginal and other remote communities where the costs of repairs are prohibitive.
Decaying bodies of camels that have been trampled by their herd in their search for water near human settlements can cause further problems.
Economic impact
The National Feral Camel Action Plan (see below) cited the following economic impacts: "direct control and management costs, damage to infrastructure (fences, yards, grazing lands, water sources), competition with cattle for food and water, cattle escapes due to fencing damage, destruction of bush tucker resources".
[
]
Social impact
The National Feral Camel Action Plan (see below) cited the following social impacts: "damage to culturally significant sites including religious sites, burial sites, ceremonial grounds, water places (e.g. water holes, rockholes, soaks, springs), places of birth, places (including trees) where spirits of dead people are said to dwell and resource points (food, ochre
Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...
, flints), destruction of bush tucker
Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and historically eaten by Indigenous Australians, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora, fauna, or funga used for culin ...
resources, changes in patterns of exploitation and customary use of country and loss of opportunities to teach younger generations, reduction of people’s enjoyment of natural areas, interference with native animals or hunting of native animals, creation of dangerous driving conditions, cause of general nuisance in residential areas, cause of safety concerns to do with feral camels on airstrips, damage to outstations, damage to community infrastructure, community costs associated with traffic accidents".[
]
Northern Territory cull, 2009
Drought conditions in Australia during the first decade of the 21st century (the "Millennium drought
The 2000s drought in Australia, also known as the Millennium drought is said by some to be the worst drought recorded since European settlement.
This drought affected most of southern Australia, including its largest cities and largest agricul ...
") were particularly harsh, leading to thousands of camels dying of thirst in the outback. The problem of invading camels searching for water became great enough for the Northern Territory Government
The Government of the Northern Territory of Australia, also referred to as the Northern Territory Government, is the Australian territorial democratic administrative authority of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory wa ...
to plan to eradicate as many as 6,000 camels that had become a nuisance in the community of Docker River
Kaltukatjara , also known as Docker River, is a remote Indigenous Australian community in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is southwest of Alice Springs, west of the Stuart Highway, near the Western Australia and Northern Territory bord ...
, 500km south west of Alice Springs
Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...
in the Northern Territory, where the camels were causing severe damage in their search for food and water. The planned cull was reported internationally and drew a strong reaction.
National Feral Camel Action Plan, 2009–2013
The Australian Feral Camel Management Project (AFCMP) was established in 2009 and ran until 2013. It was managed by Ninti One Limited in Alice Springs
Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...
funded with from the Australian Government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...
. It aimed to work with landholders to build their capacity to manage feral camels while reducing impacts at key environmental and cultural sites. The project was expected to be completed by June 2013 but received a six-month extension. It was completed A$4 million under budget.
It was a collaboration between nineteen key partners: the Governments of Australia, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland; Central Land Council
The Central Land Council (CLC) is a land council that represents the Aboriginal peoples of the southern half of the Northern Territory of Australia (NT), predominantly with regard to land issues. it is one of four land councils in the Northern Te ...
, Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara
Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, also known as APY, APY Lands or ''the Lands'', is a large, sparsely-populated local government area (LGA) for Aboriginal people, located in the remote north west of South Australia. Some of the aṉangu ...
Lands, Ngaanyatjarra Council Inc., Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa, Pila Nguru Aboriginal Corporation, Kimberley Land Council
Kimberley Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, known as Kimberley Land Council (KLC), is an association of Aboriginal people in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The land council was formed at a meeting at Noonkanbah Station in May 197 ...
and Western Desert Lands Aboriginal Corporation; South Australian Arid Lands NRM, Alinytjara Wilurara NRM Board, Natural Resource Management Board NT Inc. and Rangelands NRM WA; Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association; Australian Camel Industry Association; RSPCA
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest an ...
; Australian Wildlife Conservancy
The Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) is an Australian independent, nonprofit organisation, working to conserve threatened wildlife and ecosystems in Australia. This is principally achieved through the acquisition of extensive areas of land ...
; CSIRO
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...
; and Flinders University
Flinders University is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across 11 locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of British navigator ...
.
In November 2010 the Australian Government Department of Environment released the National Feral Camel Action Plan, a national management plan for what it defined an 'Established Pest of National Significance' in accordance with its Australian Pest Animal Strategy.
Ninti One and its partners gained consent for the culling program from the landholders for over square kilometres of land. Different culling techniques were used for different regions in deference to concerns from the Aboriginal landholders.
At the completion of the project in 2013, the Australian Feral Camel Management Project had reduced the feral camel population by 160,000 camels. This includes over 130,000 through aerial culling, 15,000 mustered and 12,000 ground-culled (shot from vehicle) for pet meat. It estimated around 300,000 camels remained, the population increasing 10% per year. The largest individual aerial cull operation was conducted in mid-2012 in the south-west of the Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
. It employed three R44 helicopter cull platforms in combination with two R22 helicopter spotting/mustering platforms. It removed 11,560 feral camels in 280 operational hours over 12 days, over 45,000 square kilometres, at a cost of around $30 per head.
The project faced criticism from some parts of the Australian camel industry, who wanted to see the feral population harvested for meat processing, the pet-meat market, or live export, arguing it would reduce waste and create jobs. Poor animal condition, high cost of freight, the lack of infrastructure in remote locations, and difficulty in gaining the necessary permissions on Aboriginal land are some of the challenges faced by the camel industry.
No ongoing funding has been committed to the program. Ninti One estimated in 2013 that per year would be required to maintain current population levels.
2020 APY lands cull
As a result of widespread heat, drought and the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season
The 201920 Australian bushfire season (Black Summer), was a period of bushfires in many parts of Australia, which, due to its unusual intensity, size, duration, and uncontrollable dimension, is considered a megafire. The Australian National ...
, feral camels were impinging more on human settlements, especially remote Aboriginal communities. In the APY lands
Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, also known as APY, APY Lands or ''the Lands'', is a large, sparsely-populated local government area (LGA) for Aboriginal people, located in the remote north west of South Australia. Some of the aṉangu ...
of South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
, they roamed the streets, damaging buildings and infrastructure in their search for water.[ They were also destroying native vegetation, contaminating water supplies and destroying cultural sites. On 8 January 2020 the South Australian Department for Environment and Water began a five-day cull of the camels, the first mass cull of camels in the area. Professional shooters would kill between 4,000 to 5,000 camels from helicopters, "...in accordance with the highest standards of animal welfare".
]
Camel industry
Camel meat
Camel meat is consumed in Australia.
A multi-species abattoir
A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility.
Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...
at Caboolture
Caboolture () is a town and suburb in Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Caboolture had a population of 26,433 people. It is located on the north side of the Caboolture River, which separates the town from Morayfi ...
in Queensland run by Meramist regularly processes feral camels, selling meat into Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, and Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. Samex Australian Meat Company in Peterborough
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
, South Australia, also resumed processing feral camels in 2012. It is regularly supplied by an Indigenous camel company run by Ngaanyatjarra Council on the Ngaanyatjarra
The Ngaanyatjarra, also known (along with the Pini) as the Nana, are an Indigenous Australian cultural group of Western Australia. They are located in the Goldfields-Esperance region, as well as Northern Territory.
Language
Ngaanyatjarra is a ...
Lands in Western Australia and by camels mustered on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara
Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, also known as APY, APY Lands or ''the Lands'', is a large, sparsely-populated local government area (LGA) for Aboriginal people, located in the remote north west of South Australia. Some of the aṉangu ...
(APY) Lands of South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
. A small abattoir on Bond Springs Station just north of Alice Springs
Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...
also processes small quantities of camels when operational.
Camel meat was also used in the production of pet food in Australia. In 2011, the RSPCA issued a warning, after a study found cases of severe and sometimes fatal liver disease in dogs that had eaten camel meat containing the amino acid
Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha am ...
indospicine, present within some species of a genus of plants known as Indigofera
''Indigofera'' is a large genus of over 750 species of flowering plants belonging to the pea family Fabaceae. They are widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world.
Description
Species of ''Indigofera'' are mo ...
.
Live camels are occasionally exported to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
, the United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
, Brunei
Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...
, and Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, where disease-free wild camels are prized as a delicacy. Australia's camels are also exported as breeding stock for Arab camel racing
Camel racing is a popular sport in Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Pakistan, Mongolia and Australia. Professional camel racing, like horse racing, is an event for betting and tourist attraction. Camels can run at speeds up to ...
stables, and for use in tourist venues in places such as the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Exports to Saudi Arabia where camel meat
A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...
is consumed began in 2002.
Camel milk
Australia's first commercial-scale camel dairy, Australian Wild Camel Corporation, was established in 2015 in Clarendon, Queensland. There are a number of smaller-scale camel dairies, some growing fast: QCamel in Central Queensland, in New South Wales' Upper Hunter District, Camel Milk Australia in South Burnett, Queensland, and Australian Camel Dairies near Perth in Western Australia. The Camel Milk Company in northern Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
has grown from three wild camels in 2014 to over 300 in 2019, and exports mostly to Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, with shipments of both fresh and powdered product set to start to Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
and Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
.
Production of camel milk in Australia grew from of camel milk in 2016 to per annum in 2019.[
]
Tourism
Camel farms offering rides or treks to tourists include Kings Creek Station near Uluru
Uluru (; pjt, Uluṟu ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially Gazette#Gazette as a verb, gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone geological formation, formation in the centre of Australia. It is in the southern part of the ...
, Calamunnda Camel Farm in Western Australia, Camels Australia at Stuart Well, south of Alice Springs
Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...
, and Pyndan Camel Tracks in Alice Springs. Camel rides are offered on the beach at Victor Harbor in South Australia and on Cable Beach in Broome, Western Australia.
There are also two popular camel racing events in Central Australia, the Camel Cup
The Camel Cup is an annual camel racing festival held in Australia. The race usually takes place at Blatherskite Park in the town Alice Springs, Northern Territory. The event is organised by the Apex Club of Central Australia.
History
The first ...
in Alice Springs and the Uluru Camel Cup at Uluru Camel Tours at Uluru.
See also
* Dromedary
The dromedary (''Camelus dromedarius'' or ;), also known as the dromedary camel, Arabian camel, or one-humped camel, is a large even-toed ungulate, of the genus ''Camelus'', with one hump on its back.
It is the tallest of the three species of ...
* Cameleers
* Camel train
A camel train or caravan is a series of camels carrying passengers and goods on a regular or semi-regular service between points. Despite rarely travelling faster than human walking speed, for centuries camels' ability to withstand harsh cond ...
* Camel meat
A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...
* The Great Australian Camel Race
The Great Australian Camel Race was an Australian event held in 1988.
This event was the work of the Australian millionaire Arthur Earle, who wanted to recognise the positive impact that camels had on the development of Australia, and highlight ...
, an Australian event held in 1988 to recognise the positive impact that camels had on the development of Australia
References
Further reading
*
Distribution and abundance of the feral camel (Camelus dromedarius) in Australia
Arthur Clark. pages 16–23 of the January/February 1988 print edition of Saudi Aramco World.
National Feral Camel Action Plan
Camels Australia Export
Camel Industry Association website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Feral Camel
Animal culling
Camels
Fauna naturalised in Australia
Feral animals
Invasive animal species in Australia
Camel
A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...
Introduced mammals of Australia