Australia to cull up to 10,000 camels in rural towns as drought worsens

Local officials in South Australia state say ‘extremely large’ herds have been encroaching on rural communities, threatening scarce food and drinking water

The cull comes on the back of Australia’s hottest and driest year on record, with the drought fuelling bush fires that have devastated the country’s southeast

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A feral camel searches for food in a remote town in Australia. File photo: AFP

Published: 3:00am, 9 Jan 2020Updated: 10:09am, 9 Jan 2020

Snipers in Australia took to helicopters this week to begin a mass cull of up to 10,000 camels as drought drives big herds of the feral animals to search for water closer to remote towns, endangering indigenous communities.

Local officials in South Australia state said “extremely large” herds have been encroaching on rural communities – threatening scarce food and drinking water, damaging infrastructure, and creating a dangerous hazard for drivers.

It comes after Australia experienced its hottest and driest year on record in 2019, with the severe drought causing some towns to run out of water and fuelling deadly bush fires that have devastated the country’s southeast.

The five-day cull in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands – home to about 2,300 indigenous people in the northwest of South Australia – is the first in the state, local media reported.

Camels were first introduced to Australia in the 1840s to aid in the exploration of the continent’s vast interior. File photo: EPA/NT GOVERNMENT

“These (camel) groups are putting pressure on the remote Aboriginal communities in the APY Lands and the pastoral operations as the camels search for water,” the APY Lands executive committee said in a statement.