We naturally think of kangaroos as being the main inhabitants of Australia’s rugged outback, but they actually rub elbows with feral herds of war, freight-carrying, riding and one/two-humped camels that presently number well beyond 1,000,000. How the Camelus dromedarius landed smack dab in the middle of bush is, not surprisingly, the work of humans who presumed quite correctly that they would make the gargantuan task of building a nation a lot easier to achieve. Between 1840 and 1907, a metaphorical red carpet was rolled out for long-lived and quite hearty dromedaries imported from the Canary Islands as well as Pakistan and India. They were solely relied on for their ability to haul water pipes and pull supply-filled wagons and construction materials for dams, mining camps, the sheep industry, etc. with relative ease. However, once modern forms of transportation began to catch on, the creatures were rendered unnecessary and either killed or allowed to roam free in the open wilderness.
Camels have been able to thrive in Australia because they’ve adapted quite successfully to the arid and often harsh climate, plus they can quite easily navigate rough terrain and they lack any known natural predators. Furthermore, they fancy munching on traditionally “undesirable” plant species that other creatures won’t touch. That’s certainly good for their rate of survival but bad for their reputation since they are now blamed for consuming well over 80% of the vegetation that grows in the outback and endangering some types of greenery to the point of no return. Since the majority of plants in Australia require bushfire to propagate successfully, they aren’t given the opportunity to fulfill their “destiny” due to hungry camel foragers who will eat just about anything with a speck of green on it. With a steadily growing population of 10% annually, the even-toed ungulates are not exactly viewed in the most favorable light (environmentally speaking) and have also been blamed for causing $12+ million in damage each year, all of which has led to the government assembling a camel hit squad.
That’s right, a mass helicopter-culling of 349,000 camels is in the works, and as has been the case in years past, the government has just allowed the animals they’ve killed to rot in the open country. Instead of wasting them in such a thoughtless manner, their inherent tendency to graze could actually be marketed as an eco-friendly weed management service (along the lines of what goats are currently being employed to do all over America and other global regions). They’ve already proven to be excellent racers capable of rivaling horses, but some think that they should also be appreciated for their very palatable milk, yogurt and cheese products as well as the camel wool, camel leather (which is supposedly 4-5 times more durable than conventional versions), and camel oil-derived skin care items, cosmetics and cooking fat that they can produce.
Garry Dann – the proprietor of Centralian Gold – hopes to win a governmental bid to export as many as 300 camels each week to the Middle East, where their meat is widely regarded as a tasty dietary staple. Reportedly low in fat, high in protein and quite like beef in flavor and texture, the other other red meat has up until now been a tough sell in the rest of the world, but Mr. Dann recently told the Sydney Morning Herald, “Many people all over the world are hungry, they have no food, no meat - so why should we waste (it)?” Since humans are effectively to blame for the current mess that Australia’s camels are in, it seems only fair that we do right by them any way that we can. As much as I hate to admit it, sometimes population management is necessary, but I really do think that these creatures are far better off alive than dead. What are your thoughts?
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