Australia considers mass camel cull.

Trojan911

wrote:

Australia considers mass camel cull
on 09/08/2009 11:22:57


Thousands of camels in Australia's remote Outback could be killed by marksmen in helicopters under a government plan to cut down the population of the havoc-wreaking creatures.

First introduced into Australia in the 1840s to help explorers travel through the Australian desert, there are now about one million camels roaming the country.

They compete with sheep and cattle for food, trample vegetation and invade remote settlements in search of water, scaring residents as they tear apart bathrooms and rip up water pipes.

Last month, the government set aside millions of dollars for a programme to help slash the population. Besides sending in sharpshooters in helicopters and on foot, officials are considering proposals to turn some of the creatures into tasty treats such as camel burgers.

Glenn Edwards, who is working on drafting the government's camel reduction programme, said the camel population needed to be slashed by two-thirds to reduce catastrophic damage.

But some remain opposed to a mass slaughter. Camel exporter Paddy McHugh, who runs camel catching operations throughout Australia, said a cull would be ineffective.

"What happens in 15 years when the numbers come back again? Do we waste another 20 million dollars?" he said.

The camels Mr McHugh's associates capture are sold overseas, used in tourism and processed for their meat. In recent years, Mr McHugh said he had seen an explosion in international demand for the animals.

The most logical solution, he said, was to kill only those creatures that could be sold abroad or used in products.

But Tony Peacock, chief executive of the University of Canberra's Invasive Animals Co-operative Research Centre, said that was unrealistic.

He said it was too expensive, the dead camels would rot on their long journeys back to the processing plant, and those captured alive would become distressed during such lengthy trips.

"To be shot from a helicopter is actually quite humane, even though that sounds brutal," he said.

"If I was a camel, I'd prefer to just get it in the head."

Source

New one on me....

Surely being shot from a helicopter is the same as being shot from the ground, or shot from a boat, or just being shot?

Traumadoc

I was part of a volunteer organisation that culled goats in the National parks, they would close all 2 million acres to the public and we would cull as many goats as possible, then the park rangers would try to finish the rest off from the choppers or on Quad bikes using semi-autos (308)

We culled over 70,000 goats in a ten year period as well as hundreds of foxes and cats ( I even shot a sheep once). Camels were to far away to hunt (2-3 days travel to get there)

emcor

My brother is working on cattle station near cloncurry in NW Auz for the past while. Part of his job is shooting vermin on sight big red kangroos, wild horses, pigs, dingos and bull camels the keep the females as they eat **** that is toxic for the cattle. The bulls wreck the fences and are really agressive - dream job...

IDon'tKnow!

They should sell camel hunting holidays to Europeans. Put them up for a week give them high power rifles and send them out after the camels. Sound like good fun and sun burn!

Traumadoc

Plenty of safaris to hunt/cull non-native species. I went on one to hunt wild pigs ( 20 million estimated in australia)

http://www.huntaust.com.au/game/cullhunting.html

Interesting video about heli culling on the Gallapagos islands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZrFIcWzSEo

Trojan911

IDon'tKnow! wrote: »

They should sell camel hunting holidays to Europeans. Put them up for a week give them high power rifles and send them out after the camels. Sound like good fun and sun burn!

I can see the camels getting the hump with this one..... :pac:

pajero2005

Traumadoc wrote: »

Interesting video about heli culling on the Gallapagos islands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZrFIcWzSEo

Now THATS a dream job:D