Ships of Destruction

As if we didn’t have enough wildlife to worry about already. It seems that apart from snakes, spiders, crocodiles and shoe-stealing dingoes, now wild camels are becoming a genuine menace.

It seems the drought is driving these ships of the desert rampaging into areas where they had not previously been spotted. That’s bad news for some remote Aboriginal communities, for landholders who have seen fences ripped down, vegetation stripped bare and drinking water contaminated, and it’s potentially bad news for grey nomads who think hitting a kangaroo on the road is as bad as it gets.

And the threat, while still remote, is not as ridiculous as you may think. I remember being in Broome a few years ago and a story doing the rounds was of a grey nomad caravanning couple who had come off second best in an argument with a camel (their vehicle was apparently destroyed but they were not seriously hurt). At the time, I took it all with a pinch of salt … but I think I may have been too cynical.

It has been estimated that there are at least 300,000 feral camels – and possibly as many as a million - roaming Australia’s inland desert regions and numbers are growing at nearly 10% a year. Indeed, Northern Territory surveys over two decades show that the camel population has been doubling every eight years. These camels don’t just live in Central Australia but in many other areas in Western Australia, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland.

So what about the dangers to road user like us? According to the Northern Territory’s Department of Planning and Infrastructure, in the years 2003 and 2004, there were a total of 13 accidents involving vehicles hitting a horse or camel including three serious injury crashes, which injured 6 people. It is estimated that one third of these accidents involved camels, meaning there are 2.17 camel related accidents annually including 0.5 serious injury accidents causing injury to one person.

While the current lack of water may slow the camel population’s rate of growth a little, it has been acknowledged that something needs to be done about the problem. The Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre, is currently looking at how camels can be managed on a national level. It will present its conclusions by the end of the year. Apart from culling, the group is apparently looking at:
• slaughter for pet meat;
• slaughter for human consumption;
• fencing off critical habitats to keep camels out;
• the economics of all of the above.

But in the meantime, we had all better remember that those wild camel stories are not all urban myths. It is incredible how these majestic creatures that were originally introduced into this country to carry supplies to remote stations and which were abandoned once the railway and road networks were established, have survived and thrived. It’s just another fascinating aspect to the incredible Outback we are privileged enough to be able to travel in.

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