The culling of thousands of camels in Central Australia recently is continuing to spark controversy and heated debate.
Since Federal Government contractor Ninti One killed about 5,000 camels southwest of Alice Springs many have vented their anger at both the way the animals were destroyed and the fact that their carcasses were left to rot in the desert sun.
An outback camel meat butcher now says he could have gathered and exported the camels … but was just not given a reasonable period to do the mustering,
“I simply cannot satisfy the export demand, because I cannot get enough live camels,” said Mike Eathorne from Camooweal. “It’s convincing people like the Central Land Council (CLC) that we can muster and remove more efficiently than they can put people in helicopters and shoot them.”
However, CLC Director, David Ross, told the ABC the company left too little time to muster before the harsh heat of summer.
He says the Queensland-based exporter is welcome to muster next year, once favourable conditions return.
“The weather’s not all that user-friendly,” Mr Ross said. “You’ve got to consider the humane treatment of animals at this time of year, and it’s not a normal thing to be mustering at this time of year.”
