Helicopter gunmen to hunt down camel herds

Marksmen in helicopters will soon take to the skies of central Australia to cull some of the thousands of camels whose numbers have exploded since being released into the wild more than a century ago.

The sharpshooters will target herds of wild camels to stop them from fouling water holes and damaging fences.

The cull will begin in the next few days in South Australia, home to about a quarter of the estimated half-million wild dromedaries that inhabit the continent.

It is the largest wild camel population in the world and is believed to be growing at the rate of 10 per cent a year.

Australia's continuing drought is forcing the camels to migrate from the desert and to seek food and water in national parks, Aboriginal reserves and outback ranches.

'One waterhole had 500 camels drinking from it,' said senior pastoral inspector Chris Turner, of the South Australian government.