{{short description|Feral camels in Australia}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}} {{Use Australian English|date=July 2011}} [[File:07. Camel Profile, near Silverton, NSW, 07.07.2007.jpg|thumbnail|Dromedary near Silverton, New South Wales]] thumbnail|Spread of camels in Australia, shown in yellow
'''Australian feral camels''' are introduced populations of dromedary, or one-humped, camel (''Camelus dromedarius''—from the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian Subcontinent). Imported to Australia as valuable beasts of burden from British India and Afghanistan<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22522695 Australia, home to the world's largest camel herd – BBC News]</ref> during the 19th century (for transport and sustenance during the exploration and colonisation of the Red Centre), many were casually released into the wild after motorised transport negated the use of camels in the early 20th century. This resulted in a fast-growing feral population with numerous ecological, agricultural, and social impacts.
By 2008, it was feared that Central Australia's feral camel population had grown to roughly one million animals, 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. They directly compete with endemic animals, such as kangaroos and other marsupials, by eating much of the available plant matter; camels may further thrive as they are able to digest many unpalatable (to other mammals) species of plants. Camels are known for their abilities to survive without water, using fat reserves stored in their hump; however, when a source of hydration is available, even a small herd can consume much of the available water, and soil the water in the process (making it unsafe for drinking by other animals, and creating a pathogen-fostering environment).
The feral camels in Australia are also known to be aggressive when they encounter herds of domestic livestock, such as cattle, sheep, and goats; they can also be dangerously territorial towards people, especially females with newly born camels and males in their rut. In general, the mating season is known as a hazardous time to be close to camels, of either sex. Pastoralists, representatives from the Central Land Council, and Aboriginal land holders, in the affected areas, were those amongst the earliest 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.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2013-11-20 |title=Feral camel cull over |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2013-11-21/feral-camel-culling-report/5105884 |access-date=2022-09-23}}</ref>
== History == thumb|A prospector riding a camel which held a world record for distance travelled without water (600 miles), 1895 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, whose ''Universal Geography'' contains the following:
<blockquote>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.<ref>Conrad Malte-Brun, ''Universal Geography: Containing the description of India and Oceanica'', Volume III 'containing the description of India and Oceanica', Book LVI 'Oceanica', Part IV 'New Holland and its dependancies', p. 568. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, London 1822.</ref></blockquote>
In 1839, Lieutenant-Colonel George Gawler, 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 by the Phillips brothers of Adelaide (Henry Weston Phillips (1818–1898); George Phillips (1820–1900); G M Phillips (unknown)).<ref>{{cite web|title=The Introduction of camels into Australia|url=http://www.burkeandwills.net.au/Camels/Introducing_Camels_Into_Australia.htm|website=Burke & Wills Web|access-date=6 March 2016}}</ref> 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.<ref name="brown">{{cite news|last1=Brown|first1=J. D.|title=Decline and Fall of the Australian Camel|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/42694334?searchTerm=first%20camel%20in%20australia%201840&searchLimits=|access-date=6 March 2016|work=Cairns Post|date=18 December 1950}}</ref> This camel, Harry, was used for inland exploration by pastoralist and explorer John Ainsworth Horrocks on his ill-fated 1846 expedition into the arid South Australian interior near Lake Torrens, 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.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47266473 |title=THE LATE MR. J. A. HORROCKS. |newspaper=South Australian Register |volume=LIII |issue=12,961 |location=South Australia |date=29 May 1888 |access-date=3 October 2016 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Horrocks died of his wounds on 23 September in Penwortham after requesting that the camel be shot.<ref>{{cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |last1=Chittleborough|first1=Jon|title=Horrocks, John Ainsworth (1818–1846)|id2=horrocks-john-ainsworth-12989|access-date=6 March 2016}}</ref>
==="Afghan" cameleers=== {{main|Afghan cameleers in Australia}} [[File:Camel train in Nannine.png|thumb|right|Camel train carrying a dinghy to Nannine, Western Australia, c. 1905]] [[File:CamelTrainKalgoorlie WEFretwellCollection.jpg|thumb|right|Camel train carrying a house near Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, c. 1928]] Australia's first major inland expedition to use camels as a main form of transport was the Burke and Wills expedition in 1860. The Victorian Government imported 24 camels for the expedition.<ref name="brown"/> The first cameleers arrived on 9 June 1860 at Port Melbourne from Karachi (then known as Kurrachee and then in British India) on the ship the ''Chinsurah'',<ref>{{cite news|title=Camels for Victoria|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/66010090?searchTerm=Chinsurah%20camels&searchLimits=|access-date=6 March 2016|publisher=The Inquirer and Commercial News|date=1 August 1860}}</ref> to participate in the expedition.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Philip|last2=Kenny|first2=Anna|title=Australia's Muslim Cameleers Pioneers of the Inland 1860s–1930s|date=2007|publisher=Wakefield Press|location=Adelaide, Australia|isbn=978-1-86254-872-5|page=19}}</ref> As described by the Victorian Exploration Expedition Committee, "the camels would be comparatively useless unless accompanied by their native drivers".<ref>{{cite book|title=VEE Committee minutes|date=19 May 1859}}</ref> 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. They cared for the camels, loaded and unloaded equipment and provisions and located water on the expedition.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Philip|last2=Kenny|first2=Anna|title=Australia's Muslim Cameleers Pioneers of the Inland 1860s–1930s|date=2007|publisher=Wakefield Press|location=Adelaide, Australia|isbn=978-1-86254-872-5|page=40}}</ref>
From the 1860s onward small groups of mainly Muslim cameleers were shipped in and out of Australia at three-year intervals, to service South Australia's inland pastoral industry. Carting goods and transporting wool bales 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 trains. 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, as well as Afghanistan and Egypt and Turkey. They belonged to four main groups: Pashtuns, Baluchis, Punjabis, and Sindhis. At least 15,000 camels with their handlers are estimated to have come to Australia between 1870 and 1900.<ref>[http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/afghan-cameleers australia.gov.au > About Australia > Australian Stories > Afghan cameleers in Australia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805054200/http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/afghan-cameleers |date=5 August 2016 }}. Accessed 8 May 2014.</ref> Most of these camels were dromedaries, especially from India, including the Bikaneri war camel from Rajasthan 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 and Arabia. A bull camel could be expected to carry up to {{convert|600|kg}}, and camel strings could cover more than {{convert|40|km|miles}} per day.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Australian Heritage 'Wild' Camel |url=https://rarebreedstrust.com.au/public/pages/australian-heritage-wild-camel}}</ref>
Camel studs were set up in 1866, by Sir Thomas Elder and Samuel Stuckey, at Beltana and Umberatana Stations in South Australia. There was also a government stud camel farm at Londonderry, near Coolgardie in Western Australia, established in 1894.<ref>{{cite news|title=Camel Breeding|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/124367465?searchTerm=camel%20stud&searchLimits=|access-date=6 March 2016|publisher=The Sydney Stock and Station Journal|date=5 June 1908}}</ref> These studs operated for about 50 years and provided high-class breeders for the Australian camel trade.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}
Camels continued to be used for inland exploration by Peter Warburton in 1873, William Christie Gosse in 1873, Ernest Giles in 1875–76, David Lindsay in 1885–1886 and the Elder Scientific Exploring Expedition in 1891–1892, on the Calvert Expedition in 1896–97, and by Cecil Madigan in 1939.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Philip|last2=Kenny|first2=Anna|title=Australia's Muslim Cameleers Pioneers of the Inland 1860s–1930s|date=2007|publisher=Wakefield Press|location=Adelaide, Australia|isbn=978-1-86254-872-5|page=50}}</ref> They were also used in the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line, and carried pipe sections for the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme.
The introduction of the ''Immigration Restriction Act 1901'' and the White Australia policy made it more difficult for cameleers to enter Australia.<ref name="jones--20">{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Philip|last2=Kenny|first2=Anna|title=Australia's Muslim Cameleers Pioneers of the Inland 1860s–1930s|date=2007|publisher=Wakefield Press|location=Adelaide, Australia|isbn=978-1-86254-872-5|page=20}}</ref>
===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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 February 2024 |title=A Traveler’s Guide to Western Australia’s Unique Wildlife |url=https://campervanhireperth.net.au/western-australias-unique-wildlife/ |website=Offgrid Campers WA}}</ref>
==Camels and the Aboriginal people==
As the Afghan cameleers increasingly travelled through the inland, they encountered many 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, along ancient trade routes such as the Birdsville Track. 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cameleers and Aboriginal people|url=http://www.cameleers.net/?page_id=8|website=Australia's Muslim Cameleers|publisher=South Australian Museum|access-date=6 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411183948/http://www.cameleers.net/?page_id=8|archive-date=11 April 2016|url-status=usurped}}</ref>
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 and Mann Ranges, 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 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."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Vaarzon-Morel|first1=Petronella|title=Indigenous Participation in Australian Economies II|date=2012|publisher=ANU Press|isbn=9781921862830|url=http://press.anu.edu.au/apps/bookworm/view/Indigenous+Participation+in+Australian+Economies+II/9511/ch04.html|access-date=6 March 2016}}</ref>
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.<ref name="jones--20"/> 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.<ref>{{Citation | author1=AIATSIS | author2=Sandall, Roger | author3=Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies Film Unit | title=Camels and the Pitjantjara | date=1969 | publisher=Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies Film Unit: Ronin Films [distributor] | isbn=978-0-85575-618-5 }}</ref>
Camels appear in Indigenous Australian art, with examples held in collections of the National Museum of Australia<ref>[https://www.nma.gov.au/explore/collection/highlights/warakurna-history-paintings Warakurna history paintings] National Museum of Australia. Retrieved 20 April 2020.</ref> and Museums Victoria.<ref>[https://museumsvictoria.com.au/bunjilaka/about-us/first-peoples/many-nations-objects/ Many Nations objects] Museums Victoria. Retrieved 20 April 2020.</ref>
Various Australian Aboriginal languages have adopted a word for the camel, including Eastern Arrernte (kamule), Pitjantjatjara (kamula), and Alyawarr (kamwerl).
==Impact== Australia has the largest population of feral 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.<ref>[http://www.nintione.com.au/resource/DKCRC-Report-47-Managing-the-impacts-of-feral-camels-in-Australia_A-new-way-of-doing-business.pdf Managing the impacts of feral camels in Australia: a new way of doing business]. Desert Knowledge CRC Report Number 47. Accessed 8 May 2014.</ref><ref>[http://www.lrm.nt.gov.au/feral/camel Northern Territory > Department of Land Resource Management > Feral Camel] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508134635/http://www.lrm.nt.gov.au/feral/camel |date=8 May 2014 }}. Accessed 8 May 2014.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Managing the Impacts of Feral Camels Across Remote Australia|url=http://www.nintione.com.au/resource/ManagingImpactsFeralCamels_FinalReportAFCMP.pdf|publisher=Ninti One|pages=59–60|date=2013|access-date=8 March 2016}}</ref>
=== Impact on the environment === {{see also|Invasive species in Australia}} 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 where they are confined to two main regions: the Simpson Desert and the western desert area of the Central Ranges, Great Sandy Desert and Tanami Desert. 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.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Brain|first1=Caddie|title=Waterholes fall foul to feral camels in dry spell|url=http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2012/s3589978.htm|access-date=6 March 2016|agency=AM|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=14 September 2012}}</ref>
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".<ref name=camelplan>{{cite web|url=https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/2060c7a8-088f-415d-94c8-5d0d657614e8/files/feral-camel-action-plan.pdf|title=National Feral Camel Action Plan: A national strategy for the management of feral camels in Australia|publisher=Commonwealth of Australia|date=2010|author= Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities|author-link=Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities|quote="...for the Natural Resources Management Ministerial Council|access-date=9 January 2020}}</ref>
Some researchers think feral camels may actually benefit their ecosystem in various ways. They may fill lost ecological niches of extinct Australian megafauna, such as ''Diprotodon'' and ''Palorchestes'', a theory similar to the concepts of Pleistocene rewilding, and contribute to a decline in wildfires.<ref>Chris Johnson, 2019, ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20190307084617/https://australasianscience.com.au/article/issue-marchapril-2019/rewilding-australia.html Rewilding Australia]'', Australasian Science</ref><ref>Arian D. Wallach, 2014, ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20200925215127/https://www.dingobiodiversity.com/feral-blog/category/camel Camel]'', Dingo for Biodiversity Project</ref><ref>Arian D. Wallach, Daniel Ramp, Erick Lundgren, William Ripple, 2017, ''[https://theconversation.com/from-feral-camels-to-cocaine-hippos-large-animals-are-rewilding-the-world-83301 From feral camels to‘cocaine hippos’, large animals are rewilding the world]'', Misha Ketchell, The Conversation</ref><ref>Erick J. Lundgren, Daniel Ramp, John Rowan, Owen Middleton, Simon D. Schowanek, Oscar Sanisidro, Scott P. Carroll, Matt Davis, Christopher J. Sandom, Jens-Christian Svenning, Arian D. Wallach, James A. Estes, 2020, ''[https://www.pnas.org/content/117/14/7871 Introduced herbivores restore Late Pleistocene ecological functions]'', PNAS, 117 (14), pp.7871-7878, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America</ref><ref>Robert Sleep, 2024, ''[https://theconversation.com/horses-camels-and-deer-get-a-bad-rap-for-razing-plants-but-our-new-research-shows-theyre-no-worse-than-native-animals-221873 Horses, camels and deer get a bad rap for razing plants – but our new research shows they’re no worse than native animals]'', The Conversation</ref><ref name="ecologicalniche" /> Additionally, camels can be an effective counter against introduced weeds.<ref name="ecologicalniche">{{cite web | last=Cawood | first=Matthew | title=Camels to fill ecological niche? | website=Farm Online | date=2012-04-08 | url=http://www.farmonline.com.au/story/3609783/camels-to-fill-ecological-niche/ | access-date=2022-01-27}}</ref><ref name="weedcontrol">{{cite web | title=Camels help in weed control | location=Mount Isa, QLD | website=The North West Star | date=9 April 2012 | url=http://www.northweststar.com.au/story/101500/camels-help-in-weed-control/ | access-date=2022-01-27}}</ref><ref name="acaciacontrol">{{cite web | last1=Barker | first1=Eric | last2=Maddelin | first2=McCosker | title=Outback camel trial to control another pest - prickly acacia weed | website=ABC News | date=2021-07-20 | url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-21/study-looking-at-camel-use-for-weed-control/100307508 | access-date=2022-01-27}}</ref>
=== 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.<ref name="ABC2020-01-07">[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-07/camel-cull-in-apy-lands-begins/11848716 Camel cull in South Australia's remote APY Lands to begin, following sharp increase in population] ''ABC News'', 7 January 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2020.</ref> 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.<ref name=bbccull>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-51032145|website=BBC News|title=Australia fires: Thousands of camels being slaughtered|date=8 January 2020|access-date=9 January 2020}}</ref>
Decaying bodies of camels that have been trampled by their herd in their search for water near human settlements can cause further problems.<ref name=boycott>{{cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/national/camel-lovers-boycott-third-world-australia/story-e6frfkvr-1225806195548|title= Camel-lovers boycott 'Third World' Australia|website= news.com.au|date= 2 December 2009|access-date=9 January 2020}}</ref>
In the summer of 2025/6, Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY Lands) in northern South Australia has been plagued by feral camels in search of water. The animals have damaged infrastructure and many have died, creating a problem with disposal of carcasses.<ref>{{cite web | last=Madden | first=Jenae | title=Camels dying from dehydration descend on APY Lands | website=ABC News | date=12 February 2026 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-12/apy-lands-feral-camels-dying-drought-sa/106321572 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260212044523/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-12/apy-lands-feral-camels-dying-drought-sa/106321572 | archive-date=12 February 2026 | url-status=live | access-date=16 February 2026}}</ref>
=== 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".<ref name=camelplan/>
=== 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, flints), destruction of bush tucker 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".<ref name=camelplan/>
== Culls ==
===Northern Territory cull, 2009=== Drought conditions in Australia during the first decade of the 21st century (the "Millennium drought") were particularly harsh, leading to thousands of camels dying of thirst in the outback.<ref>[https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/thousands-of-rotting-camels-polluting-australias-outback/news-story/816ea1b90fd2eec2e29b1857f56b069e Thousands of rotting camels polluting Australia's Outback] News.com.au, 3 December 2009. Accessed 21 May 2023.</ref> The problem of invading camels searching for water became great enough for the Northern Territory Government to plan to kill as many as 6,000 camels that had become a nuisance in the community of Docker River, 500 km south west of Alice Springs,<ref>[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/town-lives-in-fear-of-marauding-camels/story-fn3dxiwe-1225803863191 Town lives in fear of marauding camels] ''The Australian'', 25 November 2009. Accessed 8 May 2014.</ref> where the camels were causing severe damage in their search for food and water.<ref>{{cite news | date = 26 November 2009 | title = Australia Plans To Kill Thirsty Camels | work = CBS News | agency = Associated Press | url = http://www.cbsnews.com/news/australia-plans-to-kill-thirsty-camels/ | access-date = 27 November 2009 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091127142800/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/26/world/main5786556.shtml| archive-date= 27 November 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref> The planned cull was reported internationally and drew a strong reaction.<ref name=boycott/>
===National Feral Camel Action Plan, 2009–2013===
thumb|Camel muster on the APY Lands, South Australia in 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 funded with {{AUD|19 million}} from the Australian Government.<ref name=hart>{{cite journal|publisher=CSIRO Publishing|title=Outcomes of the Australian Feral Camel ManagementProject and the future of feral camel management in Australia|url=https://www.publish.csiro.au/rj/pdf/RJ16028|journal=The Rangeland Journal|date=5 May 2016|issue=38|pages=i–iii|doi=10.1071/RJ16028|first1=Quentin |last1=Hart|first2= Glenn|last2= Edwards|access-date=9 January 2020|doi-access=free}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Brain|first1=Caddie|title=Feral camels still in the sights with project extension|url=http://www.abc.net.au/site-archive/rural/news/content/201302/s3689291.htm|access-date=6 March 2016|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=13 February 2013}}</ref> 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, Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, Ngaanyatjarra Council Inc., Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa, Pila Nguru Aboriginal Corporation, Kimberley Land Council 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; Australian Wildlife Conservancy; CSIRO; and Flinders University.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
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.<ref>{{cite web|title=National Feral Camel Action Plan|url=http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive-species/publications/national-feral-camel-action-plan|website=Australian Government, Department of Environment|access-date=8 March 2016}}</ref>
Ninti One and its partners gained consent for the culling program from the landholders for over {{convert|1,300,000|km2}} of land. Different culling techniques were used for different regions in deference to concerns from the Aboriginal landholders.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Brain|first1=Caddie|title=Chasing camels on country|url=http://www.abc.net.au/site-archive/rural/content/2012/s3482115.htm|access-date=6 March 2016|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=12 April 2012}}</ref><ref name="brain--report">{{cite news|last1=Brain|first1=Caddie|title=Report released as feral camel cull ends|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-21/feral-camel-culling-report/5105884|access-date=6 March 2016|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=21 November 2013}}</ref>
At the completion of the project in 2013, the Australian Feral Camel Management Project had reduced the feral camel population by 160,000 camels.<ref name="brain--report"/> 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.<ref>[http://www.nintione.com.au/resource/ManagingImpactsFeralCamels_OverviewAFCMP.pdf Ninti One > Managing the impacts of feral camels across remote Australia: Overview of the Australian Feral Camel Management Project]. Accessed 8 May 2014.</ref> The largest individual aerial cull operation was conducted in mid-2012 in the south-west of 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.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
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.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Brain|first1=Caddie|title=Humps remain for NT camel industry|url=http://www.abc.net.au/site-archive/rural/nt/content/201111/s3364358.htm|access-date=6 March 2016|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=14 November 2011}}</ref>
No ongoing funding has been committed to the program. Ninti One estimated in 2013 that {{AUD|4 million}} per year would be required to maintain current population levels.<ref name="brain--report"/>
===2020 APY lands cull=== As a result of widespread heat, drought and the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, feral camels were impinging more on human settlements, especially remote Aboriginal communities. In the APY lands of South Australia, they roamed the streets, damaging buildings and infrastructure in their search for water.<ref name=bbccull/> 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 and 5,000 camels from helicopters, "...in accordance with the highest standards of animal welfare".<ref>{{cite news|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|website=ABC News|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-07/camel-cull-in-apy-lands-begins/11848716|title=Camel cull in South Australia's remote APY Lands to begin, following sharp increase in population|first=Isadora|last= Bogle|date=7 January 2020|access-date=9 January 2020}}</ref>
==Camel industry== ===Camel meat=== Camel meat is consumed in Australia.<ref>[https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2020-12-31/feral-camels-fattening-up-in-south-australia-feedlot/13022016 Feedlotting feral camels in South Australia as consumer appetite for gourmet meat grows] ''ABC News'', 31 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.</ref> A multi-species abattoir at Caboolture in Queensland run by Meramist regularly processes feral camels, selling meat into Europe, the United States, and Japan.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Brain|first1=Caddie|title=Hump in camel meat production|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-16/camel-meat/4632938|access-date=6 March 2016|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=16 April 2016}}</ref> Samex Australian Meat Company in Peterborough, South Australia, also resumed processing feral camels in 2012.<ref>{{cite news|title=Abattoir resuming camel meat processing|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-20/camel-abattoir-exports-peterborough/3962196|access-date=6 March 2016|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=20 April 2012}}</ref> It is regularly supplied by an Indigenous camel company run by Ngaanyatjarra Council on the Ngaanyatjarra Lands in Western Australia<ref>{{cite news|last1=Brain|first1=Caddie|title=Indigenous camel company gets over the hump|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-17/feral-camel-company/4695750|access-date=6 March 2016|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=17 May 2013}}</ref> and by camels mustered on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands of South Australia. A small abattoir on Bond Springs Station just north of Alice Springs also processes small quantities of camels when operational.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Edwards|first=Glenn|date=Dec 2012|title=Managing the Impacts of Feral Camels in the Northern Territory|url=https://www.territorystories.nt.gov.au/jspui/bitstream/10070/242814/1/asrr_2012_12.pdf|journal=Alice Springs Rural Review|volume=51|pages=3|quote=Wamboden abattoir in Alice Springs typically processes up to 20 camels per week for the local market}}</ref> Exports to Saudi Arabia where camel meat is consumed began in 2002.<ref>{{cite news |date=11 June 2002 |title=Australia supplies Saudis with camels |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2038834.stm |access-date=28 April 2013 |work=BBC News |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation}}</ref>
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 indospicine, present within some species of a genus of plants known as Indigofera.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kruger|first1=Paula|title=Report finds toxic camel meat fatal for some dogs|url=http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2011/s3155722.htm|access-date=6 March 2016|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=4 March 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Tan|first1=Eddie T. T.|last2=Fletcher|first2=Mary T.|last3=Yong|first3=Ken W. L.|last4=D’Arcy|first4=Bruce R.|last5=Al Jassim|first5=Rafat|title=Determination of Hepatotoxic Indospicine in Australian Camel Meat by Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry|journal=J. Agric. Food Chem.|date=16 January 2014|volume=62 | issue = 8 |pages=1974–1979|doi=10.1021/jf4052495|pmid=24433171}}</ref>
===Camel milk=== Australia's first commercial-scale camel dairy, Australian Wild Camel Corporation, was established in 2015 in Clarendon, Queensland.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Helbig|first1=Koren|title=Clarendon dairy could soon be Australia's largest|url=http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/clarendon-camel-milk-dairy-could-soon-be-australias-largest/news-story/6877af100f836f93fffac4870a285545?nk=729536b4082e998c5636fea377af4191-1457267875|access-date=6 March 2016|work=The Courier Mail|date=29 January 2016}}</ref> There are a number of smaller-scale camel dairies, some growing fast: Summer Land Camels and QCamel in Central Queensland,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Worthington|first1=Elise|title=Sunshine Coast camel dairy milking an untapped natural resource|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-09/queensland-camel-dairy-milking-an-untapped-natural-resource/5877202|access-date=6 March 2016|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=8 November 2014}}</ref> in New South Wales' Upper Hunter District,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Vernon|first1=Jackson|title=Camel milk farming begins in NSW amid calls for more research into health claims|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-13/camel-milk-farming-begins-in-nsw/6539934|access-date=6 March 2016|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=13 June 2015}}</ref> Camel Milk Australia in South Burnett, Queensland, and Australian Camel Dairies near Perth in Western Australia.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Martin|first1=Lucy|title=Milking it: Camel farm taps new market with dairy offering|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-28/camel-feature-wa/5291792|access-date=6 March 2016|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=28 February 2014}}</ref> The Camel Milk Company in northern Victoria has grown from three wild camels in 2014 to over 300 in 2019, and exports mostly to Singapore, with shipments of both fresh and powdered product set to start to Thailand and Malaysia.<ref name=BBC>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48935371|work=BBC News|title=Would you drink camel milk?|first=Michelle|last=Meehan|date=11 July 2019|access-date=12 July 2019}}</ref>
Production of camel milk in Australia grew from {{convert| 50,000| litres|impgal}} of camel milk in 2016 to {{convert| 180,000| litres|impgal}} per annum in 2019.<ref name=BBC/>
=== Live exports === Live camels are occasionally exported to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Brunei, and Malaysia, where disease-free wild camels are prized as a delicacy. Australia's camels are also exported as breeding stock for Arab camel racing stables, and for use in tourist venues in places such as the United States.<ref>[https://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0628/p07s01-woap.html From Australian outback to Saudi tables | csmonitor.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
===Tourism=== Camel farms offering rides or treks to tourists include Kings Creek Station near Uluru, Calamunnda Camel Farm in Western Australia, Camels Australia at Stuart Well, south of Alice Springs, and Pyndan Camel Tracks in Alice Springs.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}} Camel rides are offered on the beach at Victor Harbor in South Australia and on Cable Beach in Broome, Western Australia.<ref>{{cite web|website=Weekend Notes|url=https://www.weekendnotes.com/top-things-to-do-victor-harbor/|title=Top 7 things to do in Victor Harbor|access-date=12 July 2019}}</ref>
There are also two popular camel racing events in Central Australia, the Camel Cup<ref>{{cite web|title=The Alice Springs Camel Cup|url=http://www.camelcup.com.au/|website=The Alice Springs Camel Cup|access-date=7 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215222904/https://www.camelcup.com.au/|archive-date=15 December 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> in Alice Springs and the Uluru Camel Cup at Uluru Camel Tours at Uluru.<ref>{{cite web|title=Uluru Camel Tours|url=http://ulurucameltours.com.au/|website=Uluru Camel Tours|access-date=7 March 2016}}</ref>
== See also == {{Portal|Australia}} * Cameleers * Camel train * The Great Australian Camel Race, an Australian event held in 1988 to recognise the positive impact that camels had on the development of Australia
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Further reading == *{{cite web | last=Lerwill | first=Ben | title=The strange story of Australia's wild camel | website=BBC News | date=10 April 2018 | url=http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180410-the-strange-story-of-australias-wild-camel }} * [http://nintione.com.au/publication/dkcrc-0805 Distribution and abundance of the feral camel (Camelus dromedarius) in Australia] * [http://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/198801/camels.down.under.htm Camels Down Under], [https://web.archive.org/web/20110708141922/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/198801/camels.down.under.htm archived]. Arthur Clark. pages 16–23 of the January/February 1988 print edition of Saudi Aramco World. * [http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive-species/publications/national-feral-camel-action-plan National Feral Camel Action Plan] * [http://www.camelsaust.com.au/ Camels Australia Export] Camel Industry Association website.
{{Camelids}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Feral Camel}} Category:Animal culling Category:Camels Category:Fauna naturalised in Australia Category:National symbols of Australia Category:Feral animals Category:Invasive animal species in Australia Camel Category:Introduced mammals of Australia Category:Hunting in Australia