Experts warn that Australia’s feral camel population will explode after a $19 million plan fails to reduce numbers.
Australia has more than one million Arabian camels, Camelus dromedarius, the biggest population in the world, and scientists predict this number could double every nine years without urgent government intervention.
For those in rural towns battling the problem on the ground – time is running out, Goldfields Nullarbor Rangelands Biosecurity Association CEO Amanda Day says.
“We used to have a government agriculture department in Kalgoorlie, with about 40 people doing the work that I’m now doing,” Mrs Day said.
She said it feels like she is on the front line battling World War Three all alone.
Since 2010, the federal government has invested in three seperate plans to tackle the problem.
Funding for the $19m Feral Camel Action Plan, dried up in 2013 and volunteers now continue the work.
Two other camel management plans run by different groups that also attracted federal funding have also failed to reduce numbers.
“The Australian Government supports pest management through national coordination and capacity building, research and development, strategic investment in on ground management and data collection and analysis to improve decision-making,” a Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry spokesman said.
He said managing pests is a shared responsibility between landholders, community, industry and government.
Mrs Day said most rural towns wouldn’t have pest control if it weren’t for groups like hers.
Camels were introduced to Australia from India in 1840 by explorers and wreak havoc on native habitat.
The animals clog streams with dung, pushing over infrastructure and destroying culturally significant indigenous sites.
Curtin University ecologist Bill Bateman said that a unified federal plan is crucial in the fight against a growing population of feral camels as the animals move across the country rather than remaining within state borders.
“If you’re only culling in Western Australia, then you share a border with South Australia and the Northern Territory which are chock full of camels, then they’re just going to come back,” Mr Bateman said.
Invasive Species Council conservationist Lyall Grieve says despite being a controversial method of dealing with the issue, aerial culling is the only solution to tackle the growing population.
“For governments to enact proper feral animal control programs, they need to include the capacity to do aerial culling in order to make a significant dent in the population,” Mr Grieve said.
“Aerial culling is the most effective and humane way of controlling numbers of vertebrate pests in Australia.”
