Frequently asked questions about camels, feral camels in Australia and the Australian Feral Camel Management Project. This document is an archive of content that was held on the Australian Feral Camel Management website, 2010–2013. The site is now closed. Further information can be found at http://www.nintione.com.au/business/natural-resource-management/australian-feral-camel. Contents 1. Why are camels a problem? 2. What is the Australian Feral Camel Management Project doing about this problem? 3. What is the government doing about feral camels? 4. Who is Ninti One Limited? 5. What is the Draft National Feral Camel Action Plan doing? 6. Are feral camel numbers really increasing? 7. Isn't it cruel to kill feral camels? 8. Are you trying to kill all the feral camels? 9. Why don't they make pet food out of camel meat? 10. Why don't they export camels to the Middle East? 11. How much greenhouse gas do camels produce? 12. How can I be involved in the management of feral camels? 13. Where are feral camels being managed? 14. Who can be a culler? 15. Why don't we eat more camel meat in Australia? 16. Why can't we just sterilise the camels and stop them breeding? 17. What is the gestation period for camels? 18. What products can you make from camels? 19. Can we move camels away from where people live? 20. There aren't any camels - what are you spending the money on? 21. Why is a research organisation like DKCRC involved in culling camels? Page 1 1. Why are camels a problem? Camels played an important role in the development of Central Australia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The advent of motorised transport resulted in most of the domesticated camels being released into the wild and a feral population has emerged. Feral camels were able to breed unchecked as they have no natural predators, and they inhabit large tracts of sparsely populated, semi-arid and arid areas and are therefore largely 'invisible.' Feral camels have a low mortality rate, generally only dying from 'old age' or in prolonged drought events. Over time the feral camels have increased to such an extent that their numbers were estimated to be in the vicinity of 1 million in 2008. With the effects of extremely dry conditions on the feral camel population in 2009, combined with culling under the Australian Feral Camel Management Project, and improved aerial survey data, the current population estimate is to be lower. However, the issue is not so much the large number of animals but the damage they cause, particularly where densities are high. Feral camels roam across an area of 3.3 million square kilometres of rangeland that incorporates many different tenures: Aboriginal Lands, pastoral and mining leases, conservation lands and other Crown Land. They cause damage to infrastructure, sites of biological and cultural significance and communities. Feral camels eat almost anything, although they do have preferences. Being herd animals, camels move around in groups. A herd of females and young can number in the tens to the hundreds. There are smaller herds of young males, and adult males tend to be solitary. Group size is very dependent on the breeding season and on conditions; in dry seasons they congregate in large numbers, sometimes into the thousands, around watering points. This causes huge stress on available water sources, upon which native animals also rely. Damage caused by camels to infrastructure, property and people has been estimated at around $5.5 million a year. Physical damage includes to fences, yards, water troughs, tanks, bores, buildings, airconditioning units and windmills; while vehicle accidents caused by camels have resulted in deaths and serious injury. Feral camels impact on livestock production through competition for food and water resources at an estimated cost of around $3.5 million per year. Direct control and management costs are estimated at over $2.5 million per year. Damage to the environment includes: • To vegetation through feeding behaviour (browse on trees) and trampling, resulting in erosion Page 2 • Local extinction of populations of preferred species such as the quandong (Santalum acuminatum), bean tree (Erythrina vespertillo) and curly pod wattle (Acacia sessiliceps) • To wetlands through fouling, trampling and subsequent sedimentation • Competition with native animals for food, water and shelter • Contribution to greenhouse gas emissions Damage to social/cultural values • Damage to sites of cultural significance for Aboriginal people, such as water places (water holes, rock holes, soaks, springs, etc). Many of these sites are sacred, and damage to them constitutes damage to the social and cultural life of Aboriginal people • Destruction of sources of bush tucker • Reduction in enjoyment of natural areas • General nuisance and causing hazards for drivers. It is also possible that feral camels could be involved in the spread of diseases such as bluetongue, Rinderpest, Rift Valley fever, surra (trypanosomosis) and bovine tuberculosis if there were outbreaks of these diseases in Australia (Brown 2004; Rober Henzell 2008, SA Animal and Plant Control Group, pers.comm.). Quantifiable cost to the Australian community (not including to the environment or in greenhouse emissions) is in the order of $10 million per year. (back to top) 2. What is the Australian Feral Camel Project doing about this problem? This project has been set up to humanely reduce the overabundance of feral camels, and therefore the densities of camels in areas of known high concentrations and of high conservation and cultural value. Management methods being used include ground culling for petmeat, mustering for sale (mainly for meat processing) and culling. Exclusion fencing has limited potential due to construction and maintenance costs and aesthetic issues around cultural and tourist sites. Page 3 In addition, the project is undertaking a significant monitoring and evaluation program (MERI: Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting, Improvement) to measure and report on improvements to biodiversity outcomes for the land, restoration of vegetation and water resources. The project's activities support the National Feral Camel Action Plan. (back to top) 3. What is the government doing about feral camels? On 4 November 2010, the Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council endorsed the National Feral Camel Action Plan as a national plan for an Established Pest of National Significance in accordance with the Australian Pest Animal Strategy. The Australian Government has also provided funding to Ninti One Ltd to implement the Australian Feral Camel Management Project in collaboration with partners. State and Federal governments have supported the investigation of of commercial use options to support feral camel management. (back to top) 4. Who is Ninti One Ltd? Ninti One Ltd is a national not-for-profit company that aims to build opportunities for people living in remote Australia through research, research application and outreach. It is the management company for a number of projects, including the Australian Feral Camel Management Project (AFCMP), the Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation (CRC-REP) and the Intellectual Property derived from the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (DKCRC), which conducted research on feral camels in Australia from 2005–2008, resulting in a series of ground-breaking reports (reports 47–54). Subsequently, Ninti One applied to the Australian Government Caring for our Country Program for funds to implement a management strategy based on the research results. This application was funded in late 2009 and Ninti One now runs the Australian Feral Camel Management Project in association with its 20 partner organisations. (back to top) Page 4 5. What is the National Feral Camel Action Plan doing? The National Feral Camel Action Plan is a national strategy for the management of feral camels in Australia now and into the future. Vision The National Feral Camel Action Plan has been developed in response to the increasing number of camels, their increasing damage to the Australian rangelands and the need for a nationally coordinated approach to dealing with these issues. The vision for the plan is 'comprehensive, coordinated management of camels and their impacts that maintains and promotes the biodiversity, agricultural assets and social values of the rangelands for all Australians.' Why a national plan? The current management of camels is largely ad hoc and is fragmented by jurisdictional and tenure boundaries. Consequently, camel management to date has failed to provide a strategic and risk-based approach upon which local, regional and state based management can be undertaken. In order to develop a strategic and risk-based approach to camel management, an overarching emphasis has to be placed on the mitigation of the impacts of camels at appropriate scales rather than simply reducing camel numbers. However, as there is a positive relationship between camel density and degree of damage, reducing camel numbers is an important strategy in achieving damage mitigation. Further, management of the current feral camel population requires immediate effort by all - governments, industries, land managers and the various stakeholder communities. This can only be achieved by providing a framework at a national level, as: • the current large population of camels occurs over a very large range • camels are highly mobile and are able to move over large distances in relatively short time periods • camels occur