AERIAL surveys in 2011 under the Australian Feral Camel Management Project (AFCMP) estimated that there were 750,000 feral camels roaming across 3.3 million square kilometres of Western Australia, Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland.
Their destructive impact has cut a swathe through many areas of ecological and cultural significance. By sheer force of numbers, they have devastated natural waterholes, destroyed sacred Aboriginal sites, and damaged pastoral grazing lands and infrastructure.
Jan Ferguson, the Managing Director of Ninti One Ltd, which has managed the AFCMP since it began in 2009, says that feral camels are now concentrating in larger groups as the landscape continues to dry following the extreme wet weather of 2010-11.
“The concentration of feral camels accelerates the impact they have on an area through drinking available water, trashing waterholes and surrounding vegetation. This is why it is important that we continue to work to reduce the feral camel population and their subsequent impacts.
“We are never going to eliminate feral camels from outback Australia and that is not the intention of this project. Our aim is to commence managing their population to acceptable levels – and we are on track to achieve this goal.
“Over 100,000 feral camels have been removed from the Australian landscape through the project and the current rate of feral camel removal is around 75,000 per year, which is reducing the overall population and lowering their density around priority environmental sites.
“While the project is a significant environmental management initiative, supported under the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country program, we are also pleased with the economic opportunities it is creating.
“For instance, the project has helped supply feral camels to the developing camel meat industry by supporting increased mustering on Aboriginal lands.
“In addition, more than 300 Aboriginal people from 11 ranger groups across Australia have been trained by our partners in new ways to assess the impact of feral camels on the desert environment, which are being used in conjunction with their traditional knowledge.
“Removing feral camels from grazing lands is also helping the cattle industry increase its economic capacity in those regions affected by large herds of feral camels particularly through reducing the destruction of fences and station infrastructure.
“It’s been gratifying to see the way in which Aboriginal communities and landholders, the cattle industry and government agencies from five different jurisdictions have come together in a collaborative and cooperative partnership to deal with this issue.
“There are 19 major partners in this project – all pulling in the same direction. There has been no precedent for this type and scale of project in Australia before.
“And it is important that we continue to work together while feral camel population densities remain unacceptably high.
“Although we are pleased with the current rate of feral camel removal, more work is required to protect environmentally sensitive sites from feral camels.
“This project is laying the foundation for future feral camel management that must be ongoing if impacts are to be maintained at levels acceptable to the environment, remote communities, landholders and industry users. However, more investment from all stakeholders is required into the future,” Ms Ferguson said.
