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Launching from a helicopter.  Why camels are becoming a nuisance in Australia

Launching from a helicopter. Why camels are becoming a nuisance in Australia

Camels have been brought to Australia as pack animals since the 1840s. Meanwhile, they are considered plague in some places.

dpa

When it comes to Australian animals, most people think of koalas and kangaroos. Lesser known are the numerous camels that live in the country’s arid interior. They were essential to colonization – today they are being shot down.

A camel caravan moves slowly but majestically through the scorching desert heat at a steady pace. Above her was the unrelenting sun, behind which the sand dunes stretched as far as the eye could see.

When you think of camels, images from the Sahara usually pop into your head. What most people don’t know: The world’s largest population of wild camels isn’t at home in Africa or the United Arab Emirates — but Australia. There are historical reasons for this, because when the unexplored continent was once settled by Europeans, there was a need for hardy and heat-resistant animals. Today, on the other hand, they serve more as a leisure activity.

Camel racing in the middle of the countryside

“We’ve actually always had camels here,” says Shelley Lorenzen, who is the president of the Boulia Camel Races, a camel race in the middle of the outback. Boulia in Queensland has only about 300 to 400 people, but during race season in July, about 3,500 people are busy. Many people come in caravans or sleep in tents to watch.

The three-day extravaganza features lawnmower races, music and fireworks. But Lorenson says the camels are the main attraction. Their nature makes the races unpredictable: the riders cannot lead or control the animals: “You can train them, but even a camel that wins all the races one day can sit on the ground the next.”

Camels have been introduced from India, Afghanistan and the Arabian Peninsula since the 1840s. During colonial times, newcomers helped explore the outback and transport goods and people alike. Many important projects such as the Trans-Australian Railway and the Overland Telegraph Line (Trans-Australian Telegraph Line) were also implemented with the help of camels. In addition, settlements in the suburbs depended on “ships of the desert” as food was brought to even the most remote areas on the camel.

Ahead of the 2022 Boulia Camel Race Camels were introduced from India, Afghanistan and the Arabian Peninsula in the 1840s.
Ahead of the 2022 Boulia Camel Race Camels were introduced from India, Afghanistan and the Arabian Peninsula in the 1840s.

Matt Williams/Boulia Camel Races/dpa

A couple in Silverton offer camel tours

Duncan Pickering says Silverton, on the border of New South Wales and South Australia, has had camels since the town was founded in the 1880s. He offers camel tours there with his partner Peta Devine. The couple dreamed of a self-sufficient life on a farm in the middle of the countryside. The camels turned out to be quite a coincidence: “The family that gave us the tours before stopped by and gave us our first two animals in 2017,” Pickering told the German Press Agency.

Now 13 camels live in the farm. What fascinates Pickering about working with desert animals is their personality: “They are all very private, but at the same time very confident.” But training new animals is a challenge: “First you have to get to know their nature and warm to each other.”

Still: Impressive beasts of burden have long been considered a nuisance in Australia. After they were no longer needed for transportation with the advent of cars and other forms of transportation in the early 1900s, they were released to the suburbs. They have proliferated in the wild – a 2010 Environment Ministry report put their number at around one million. A report by the ABC station estimated there were 1.2 million animals in 2020 — but no one knows for sure.

When it’s hot, humpback animals look for water in the shelters

Especially during dry, hot seasons, wild conifers often wander into settlements in search of water. They tear down fences and try to get condensation into air conditioning systems. The damage is often high – for this reason, and to keep their reproduction under control, Australia is constantly shooting camels in large numbers. Local governments and landowners hire snipers for this, and sometimes helicopters are used. Australia’s Wild Camel Action Plan insists that killing should be as quick and painless as possible.

An estimated 3,600 to 4,000 camels are killed each year to make animal feed from their meat. Another 400 animals are used for direct export and 1000 animals for human consumption.

Paul Martin, who founded “Summer Land Camels” in 2015, says, “Our main concern is to save the camels and at the same time find a use for their products. His 800-acre farm in Harrisville, Queensland has 400 to 500 camels, which are captured in the wild and then used by Martin and his team. In addition to sunrise rides and cocktail evenings with camels, visitors can try camel milk cheese and ice cream or “camelcino” at the farm cafe. The aroma is slightly sweet, and camel milk is high in vitamin C and iron.

Demand for camel products increases

Paul Martin also touts many other health benefits: “Camel milk does not coagulate in the stomach, so it does not lead to an inflammatory reaction like other types of milk.” For this reason, lactose intolerant people can also drink milk.

He says the demand for camel products is slowly increasing. Apart from dairy products, Summer Land Camels also sells hand creams, body lotion and the world’s first camel vodka. In some Asian countries you can already buy products online. “We are currently working on an EU strategy,” Martin says. Australian Camel products will soon be available in Europe.

Michelle Ostwald, dba