Camel Population in Australia.
Australia is home to the world’s largest herd of wild camels.
Most Camels in Australia are Dromedaries with a number of Bactrian camels.
The first Camels to be introduced into Australia was in the 1840’s, and were for transportation purposes. Between then and the end of the century up to about 20,000 camels were imported from India.
In 2018 it is estimated that Australia is home to about 1.2 million camels. www.news.com.au
In 2002 it was estimated that Australia was home to about 500,000 camels. . www.bbc.co.uk
The feralscan website has quoted: There are approximately 1 to 1.2 million feral camels in Australia, and their numbers are thought to be doubling every 8-9 years. They occupy an area of approximately 3.3 million square kilometres of rangeland that incorporates many different land tenures.
In 2010 the Australian governments “Feral Camel Management Project“, was introduced to reduce camel densities through culling and mustering the animals for sale. This may hav ereduced the numbers by about 200,000.
Some of these camels are rounded up and sold to the Middle East. bbc.co.uk
Eat More Camel – www.news.com.au
Problems with Camels in Australia.
One of the biggest problems is that they drink large amounts of water,” explorer and writer Simon Reeve told the BBC. “They gulp down gallons at a time and cause millions of pounds worth of damage to farms and water holes which are used to water stock.
They also drink dry water holes belonging to the Aborigines.”
Camels are also responsible for damaging vital infrastructure such as fences, water tanks, pumps and pipes.
Ecologists fear the camels’ vast appetites will ravage traditional food sources for native species such as kangaroos, emus and assorted reptiles.
www.bbc.co.uk