Big, thirsty and ‘anything ready’ for water: the camel chaos in Australia

About 600 wild camels in central Australia were culled this week after an emergency meeting to tackle the animals wreaking “havoc” in remote communities.

A dry spell has led to large herds of indigenous communities entering communities in search of water, damaging pipes and fences in their path.

Damien Ryan works as an area manager for MacDonnell Regional Council and has experienced the problem first-hand.

“One morning last week there was a leak in one of the buildings… there were 80 camels scrambling to get that little bit of water,” he said.

“They just walk through two-metre high security fences and knock the taps off the outside walls… they break the water pipe a meter underground to get to water.”

This month, a dozen homes in the community of Mount Liebig – about 200 miles west of Alice Springs – were left without a water supply as a result of the damage, with days above 40 degrees Celsius.

“There’s a major cleanup going on,” Ryan said.

As many as 800 to 1,000 camels traveling in one direction – known as a ‘camel train’ – covering a length of 5 km have been reported by residents near Mount Liebig and Papunya.

According to government estimates, this could happen in summer or during droughts, when herds congregate.

Burgoyne said the issue has caused “absolute devastation”.

“Imagine waking up one morning and seeing hundreds of camels in your local community, and they can become quite aggressive,” he said.

Ryan said that when the water sources dry up, the camels “smell water” and find what they can find.

“I’ve lived in central Australia all my life. They are some of the biggest camels I’ve ever seen,” he said.

A joint taskforce has been set up between the NT Government, MacDonnell Regional Council and the Central Land Council (CLC), which this week approved a three-day air clearance to help.

The CLC says around 150 camels are killed every day as they are moved from exclusion zones such as communities, outstations and roads.

When the rain returns, they disappear ‘like fairy tales’

Camels were first introduced to Australia in 1840, and in 2008 about a million of them roamed the arid areas of Western Australia, the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland.

According to a federal government State of the Environment report, Australia’s Feral Camel Management Project removed more than 160,000 camels between 2008 and 2013, at a cost of $19 million.

The project also supported the development of a commercial industry for wild camels and helped reduce the wild population to approximately 300,000.

Experts say that a severely dehydrated camel can drink 100 liters of water in ten minutes.

Once the rain returns, Ryan said the camels will move on.

“Saturday night we got a little rain and Sunday night we got a big storm, and the next morning the camels were gone like fairy tales,” he said.

“The issue persists, there are now thousands of camels, say the camel experts, between the ages of seven and nine the herd doubles.”

Calls for federal aid

Burgoyne says the NT government is doing what it can, but thinks “the emphasis has really shifted” in trying to solve the problem and asking for more money for large-scale culls.

“Local municipalities literally have to hunt these camels in the morning so that the communities can be safe,” he said.

The federal government said states and territories have primary responsibility for managing invasive species.

A spokesperson for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water said in a statement: “Through the Saving Native Species program, the Australian Government has invested more than $4.9 million in two Northern Territory Government and Central Land Council projects.”

“These projects aim to improve habitat and help recover endangered species in the MacDonnell Ranges and include activities such as feral camel control.”

Safety and care for animal welfare

The Central Land Council (CLC), which represents 90 elected Aboriginal men and women in southern NT, said it is necessary to protect endangered species and lands while keeping people safe.

CLC representative Mischa Cartwright told SBS News that the council had culled more than 1,400 camels by 2025.

“There are really no options other than to go through a humane culling process,” she said.

“I think communities, as long as they’re properly consulted as part of that project, they feel pretty comfortable… because it’s about the protection of our certain species in our country and also about the safety of our communities.”

Concerns have also been raised about the animals’ welfare, as local authorities cannot turn on water for large numbers of camels.

“Maybe in the future there should be some remote water points for camels in that situation. And when I say remote, they should be a reasonable distance away from communities,” Ryan said.

Ryan has seen camels get stranded because damaged water taps leak and make the ground muddy.

“They perish because there is no water,” he said.

“No matter how much pulling and pulling we do, we can’t always get them out alive. They get stuck in the mud and that’s very dangerous. They wave their heads, they give you a good old bite, they can damage you.”

“The camel populations are not going to disappear and hopefully there will be business opportunities for someone, but you cannot create business opportunities when the crisis hits. You have to do that well in advance.”

For the latest news from SBS News, download our app And subscribe to our newsletter.