Officials to kill thousands of camels in Australia as they drink too much water amid wildfires

[eppur_se_muova]

11. Just a reminder -- CAMELS ARE NOT NATIVE TO AUSTRALIA !!

These are an invasive species -- placental mammals on an isolated continent home to most of the world's marsupials, many of them endangered.

I suspect Aussies have been culling them on a regular basis, just as they have culled rats and rabbits, for much the same reason. In a less urgent situation, they might even harvest the meat.

Sad for the animals, of course, but you can't ship thousands of camels out to zoos, and since they're wild -- untamed -- they're no good as pack animals or mounts. They shouldn't have been allowed to escape and breed, but too late now.

PS: Camels are BIG animals, up to 1300 lbs. for Dromedaries and 2000 lbs. for Bactrians, and while they are famous for their ability to do without water for extended periods, they drink plenty when it is available -- various sources say 20, 30, even 53 gallons in a matter of minutes. I would think wild camels would be as much a problem in Oz as wild pigs are in this country. Why do you think there is such a thing as a "National Feral Camel Management Plan", and why was it recording a census of camels nine years ago ?? BTW, camels can eat almost any type of vegetation, including some inedible by any other species. Allowed to breed unchecked, they can strip vegetation that other species rely on to survive. Aussies know what they're doing here, however unpleasant it may be.