Australia’s dromedary camel population has been labelled a ‘feral plague’ said to be ‘one million’ in number – a figure now used to justify a nation-wide culling of the species.
Stakeholders ranging from pastoralists and Indigenous Australians to major mining companies like BHP are calling for, or committing to, culling the nation’s camels…
But what if there were better, more ethical alternatives to culling? And how true is this ‘one million’ camels myth?
Reporter Jacqueline Pon investigates.
PUTTING THE MYTH TO THE TEST: Australia’s camel population
A quick google of “Australia’s camel population” immediately reveals the confusion around why Australia is seemingly infested with ‘one million camels,’ as media and federal government-endorsed websites such as CamelScan regularly sport the figure.
However, as estimated by QCamel Dairy owner Lauren Brisbane, “Australia has a wild population of about 400, 000 wild camels. We never did have the million.”
In contrast, a 2016 report by The University of Queensland and Alex Knight said the population is conservatively estimated to be around 300,000.
Whether 300,000 or 400,000, both estimates are a far cry from the ‘one million’ myth, and corroborate with recorded camel sightings collated by the nation’s leading biodiversity database, The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA).
“Australia has a wild population of about 400,000 camels. We never did have a million.”
– Lauren Brisbane, QCamel Dairy owner
In 2011, the ALA charted 1,000 feral camel sightings, which was prior to the nation-wide camel cull conducted by the government-funded Australian Feral Camel Management Project in November 2013.
Interestingly, in 2018 when the ABC reported the population was allegedly rising to plague proportions once more, but only 24 camels were sighted nationwide.
Despite scientific research, the opinions of camel industry experts, and government data, the ‘one million’ myth continues to prevail, often with consequences to the profitability and political weight given to the camel industry itself.
A Bloody History: Camel Culling
“Killing is never a pleasant duty. The choice is between camels and cattle as there is not enough water for both.”
– Laurie Snell, Carnegie Station pastoralist
The reasons why Australia’s ‘one million camels’ myth is so prominent stems back to 2013 when the figure first found fruit in the Australian Government’s controversial Desert Knowledge Ninti One Project: Australian Feral Camel Management Program.
“Blind greed and a massive lump of stupidity by Desert Knowledge was the start of the rot. They where going broke and had to find a lot of money….The camel was a good one for them, out of sight, out of mind“
– Paddy McHugh, Queensland camel trader
Paddy McHugh (quoted above) has been a familiar face in Australia’s camel industry for the past 30 years, and one of the most outspoken when it comes to criticism the Australian Feral Camel Management Program (AFCMP), which also goes by the shorthand ‘Desert Knowledge’ or the ‘NintiOne Project.’
The project was a semi-autonomous government body based in Alice Springs that, after receiving an unexpected $18 million of federal funding in 2013, decided to spend it on a nation-wide cull of Australia’s camels. The culling involved aerial shooting – and they use the incorrect figure of “one million” camels as justification.
Mr McHugh is not alone in his viewpoint. Ngaanyatjarra Camel Company’s Alex Knight, who actually participated in the AFCMP culling retrospectively stated in his 2016 report that it was,
“A shoot to waste program… as a consequence, approximately $108 million worth of potential Australia camel exports were shot and left to rot on the ground, and to add insult to injury, it cost the Commonwealth Government $18 million to do it.”
Australia’s camel iNDUSTRY: aN oVERVIEW
The culling of Australian camels was as controversial in 2013 as it is now. Even supporters of culling such as Laurie Snell of Carnegie Station said, “Bounty could work but shooting to rot is not the answer. Perhaps a subsidy on ammunition could be considered.”
However, those who regularly work with camels such as Mr Knight, Mr McHugh, Mrs Brisbane, and Oakfield Ranch owner Rodney Samson agree that the answer lies in expanding Australia’s niche, but highly successful camel export industry.
Although still in its infancy, Australia’s camel industry continues to thrive, with some of the major players labelled below. It is these businesses and stakeholders that make the feasibility of stopping camel culling in Australia possible.
The Camel Industry: Dairy
When we started, we were the first camel dairy [in Australia] and then we thought we were hot stuff doing 60 litres a week and it would sell out. Now there’s thousands of litres being done a week and it’s all sold.
– Lauren Brisbane, QCamel Dairy owner
When Michael Clarke, an agriculture analyst in Australia, wrote a report on the feasibility of both the camel dairy, and camel meat industries, it was clear which sector was faring the best.
“The camel milk industry is a new rural industry which is set for rapid change… supply and demand balance is presently tipped in favour of the producer and camel milk dairies report a four week waiting period before new customers can be supplied.”
(Clarke 2016)
Three years on from his report, and QCamel’s Lauren Brisbane says the camel dairy industry continues to thrive.
“When we started, we were the first camel dairy [in Australia] and then we thought we were hot stuff doing 60 litres a week and it would sell out… now there’s thousands of litres being done a week and it’s all sold.”
The camel Industry: Meat
Culling makes the people of the Ngaanyatjarra Land just completely dependent on government because it’s very expensive and doesn’t return any money. Whereas, if we muster and sell camels, we’ve got a management tool to deal with the problem of camels, especially in times of drought when they become a problem
– Alex Knight, Manager of Ngaanyatjarra Camel Company
When the meat industry first looked into the viability of camel as cattle sold to overseas market as meat, the opinions were conservative. Even when interviewed last month, analyst Michael Clarke said,
“Live export of a tiny number of camels will face stiff competition from competitors in North Africa and given the sensitivity of all forms of live export, will further put at risk to more significant live sheep and cattle trades.”
However, once the conversation switched from the live exportation of Australian camels to slaying camels domestically before sending the meat frozen overseas, the prospects grew exponentially.
In a 2015 report, Mr. Clarke’s reports on the commercial feasibility of frozen camel meat was much more promising, estimating that, thanks to the efforts of musterers such as Alex Knight and the Ngannyatjarra Camel Company, “Australia dominates world camel meat exports, accounting for US$5.7 million in a 2013 world total of US$6.6 million.”
In the words of Mr Knight, “We’ve turned a feral animal problem into an export industry.”
The Camel Industry: Tourism & Racing
Ninety-nine per cent of our camels come from the wild. We get them from all over the place, but they all come from the wild camel population.
– Rodney Samson, camel operator and owner of Oakfield Ranch
According to seasoned tourism and camel operator Rodney Samson, camel tourism is highly popular in rural Australia with an estimated “eight to ten professional races” currently in existence.
The tourism potential for camels isn’t restricted to just rides and races either.
“We run a big business. I can’t really give you figures on that, but we do fairly well. We do loads, we do movie work, we do the racing, it’s a full-time job for us, you know.”
Other reported camel tourism outlets are camel cuddle tours, expeditions to see feral camels in the outback, camel beauty pageants, milking camels, and more.
Saying no to culling: How the camel industry’s moving forward
Saying no to culling is not easy, as Australia does need to manage its dromedary camel population.
But how? Here’s what our experts have to say.
Paddy McHugh:
“Yes, we most definitely need to [build new abattoirs]… we need to do one just south of Alice Springs at the industrial centres, it’d be perfect for it. And the other one is in Laverton, and that’s where we’re looking to at the moment in Western Australia. And then you could probably have a third one to the top and up north in the Kingley at the bottom of the Kimberley.”
Mr McHugh’s call for more co-species abattoirs was also one echoed by Mrs Brisbane and Mr Knight. More abattoirs means more camels killed in a sustainable and profitable way that’s arguably more humane and justifiable than aerial shooting the species and leaving them to die in the desert.
Lauren Brisbane:
“I think there needs to be a greater push for camels to be co-grazed with cattle in Australia, to preserve the land, and particularly in Queensland, to eat pest vegetation such as Parkinsonia and Prickly Acacia which are uncontrollable, because what they [are currently] using to control those two invasive species damage both the land and the waterways, and particularly damage the Great Barrier Reef.”
Mrs Brisbane says integrating camels onto cattle farms would make them even more dispensable to rural Australia as not only a profitable meat product, but also as a weed controller, pack animal, transport vehicle, fur provider, and companion animal.
Alex Knight:
“There is some government investment that we want… In periods where there’s not a drought it’s actually harder for us to get camels.”
Mr Knight said one of the biggest obstacles with expanding Australia’s current camel meat industry is consistent supply and demand. While demand has stayed roughly consistent, supply is the issue as, like mentioned above, camels are easier to catch in drought as they are more likely to mass together in search of water. It is here, and not in massive $18 million projects, that the government can help.
Rodney Samson:
“It’s not better to cull them and just leave them lying around in the bush. We should be using them instead.”
Pest or Pariah? 