Feral Animals of the Northern Territory
Feral Camel - Camelus dromedarius
Impacts
Feral camels have demonstrable environmental, economic and cultural impacts.
In central Australia, camels feed on more than 80% of the available plant species. Serious impacts of camels on vegetation are evident in situations where camels occur at densities greater than 2 animals per km2, which is the case throughout much of the Northern Territory.
Feral camels severely defoliate and suppress the recruitment of some shrub and tree species including curly pod wattle (Acacia sessiliceps), bean tree (Erythrina vespertilio), quandong (Santalum acuminatum), plumbush (Santalum lanceolatum) and supplejack (Ventilago viminalis), with such impacts being greatly exacerbated in drier years. Some important food plants traditionally harvested by Aboriginal people (e.g. Ipomoea costata) are also seriously affected by camel browsing.
Feral camels have a noticeable impact on fragile salt lake ecosystems and foul waterholes, which are important sites for Aboriginal people and for native fauna. Feral camels are also likely to destabilise dune crests thereby contributing to erosion.
Feral camels damage stock fences (often over hundreds of metres) and infrastructure at cattle watering points.
Camels are also an increasing hazard to motorists traversing outback roads.
Background
The first camels arrived in Australia in 1840 from the Canary Islands. During the 1880s and 1890s the camel importation rate rose sharply as camels were utilised for exploration purposes. It is estimated that 10,000 to 20,000 camels were imported between 1880 and 1907. The domestic camel population continued to expand from 1880 until the early 1920s through importations and natural increase, but then declined steadily as motor vehicles began to be used more and more for freight haulage.
Although unwanted camels were occasionally destroyed, many were turned out into the bush where they established feral populations.
Distribution and Habitat
Feral camels occur over 40% of the Australian mainland (3.3 million km2), being confined primarily to the drier parts of Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory. There are currently in excess of one million feral camels, and the population is capable of doubling in size every nine years.
Within the Northern Territory feral camels are found over an area of approximately 550,000 km2, or around 40% of the land area. Distribution is confined to two main regions: the eastern desert area, comprised principally of the Simpson Desert and fringing pastoral properties, and the western desert area comprised of the Central Ranges, Great Sandy Desert and Tanami bioregions. Minimal pastoral activity occurs in the areas predominantly used by feral camels. Although commonly associated with sandy country, camels can be found in any of the habitat types in the southern half of the Northern Territory.
Management
In 2008, the Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport in partnership with the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre and the Australian Government published the report, Managing the impacts of feral camels in Australia: a new way of doing business. The report is a national study aimed at effectively managing feral camels and their impacts.
Feral camels are very mobile and move over very large areas. Consequently, extensive buffer zones will be needed in arid regions to protect environmentally sensitive areas from camel impacts if these threaten biodiversity values in those areas. Also, because feral camels are wide ranging, it is imperative that the relevant state and territory governments act together to manage the species across its entire range.
Current management of feral camels falls into three categories:
- Fencing off of key areas. While appropriate fencing can effectively exclude feral camels, it does not reduce populations.
- Live wild-harvest for the purpose of commercial sale. In the Northern Territory, a small industry based on the live wild-harvest and live-export of feral camels has been in operation since 1993. In recent years, camels have also been processed in Alice Springs for domestic meat markets. However, the current annual off-take is small (fewer than 2,000 animals) and populations are increasing in spite of this effort. Live export markets are notoriously fickle in regard to the size and sex of the animals they require at particular times of the year. Construction of a purpose-built export abattoir could open up new markets for camel meat with the added benefit that all camels, irrespective of size and sex, could be utilised all year round.
- Ground-based and Aerial Platform Control. In South Australia and the Northern Territory, ground-based and aerial shooting have been used to reduce feral camel populations on national parks and pastoral leases. Aerial platform control is always carried out by trained personnel. Although the aerial shooting of large animals like horses and camels is a highly emotive issue, it is the most effective and humane technique of culling large feral herbivores in remote, inaccessible situations.
