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A Million Camels Plague Australia
nationalgeographic ^
| October 26 2009
Posted on 10/27/2009 12:21:19 PM PDT by JoeProBono
Wild dromedary camels, brought to Australia in the mid-19th century to help explore and develop the outback, were left to breed and survive on their own. Now they number a million in the wild and have become pests, officials say.
Camels are not usually associated with Australia, but Australia is home to the largest herd of feral camels in the world.
About 12,000 dromedary camels were brought to Australia in the mid-19th century to carry people and supplies during the exploration and development of the Interior but after the advent of the automobile, they were abandoned and left to fend for themselves.
The camels adapted very well on their own.
Today, the camels are found scattered throughout the interior, from Western Australia to Queensland, Recent research shows that the total population has reached staggering numbers.....
TOPICS: Outdoors; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: australia; camel; camels; dromedary; jpb
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To: Lurker
Is camel good eating?
People in Egypt seem to think so. Since Australia slaughters 25,000 per year, they ought to sell them to the Egyptians.
21
posted on
10/27/2009 12:31:54 PM PDT
by
aruanan
To: Redleg Duke
I can almost top the cockatoos. Two dozen peacocks right outside your window.
22
posted on
10/27/2009 12:31:56 PM PDT
by
EggsAckley
(There's an Ethiopian in the fuel supply. W.C. Fields)
To: Lurker
Only the toe.
Seriously, camel IS good eating. In many parts of the Middle East you see the meat section has Beef/ Chicken/ Camel.
Australia is a case study in the introduction of new species to an isolated ecology. There is a good reason why marsupials (other than the opossum) are extinct everywhere but Australia, and the importation of placental mammals was a big wake up bell... ‘ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for THEE marsupials’.
23
posted on
10/27/2009 12:33:30 PM PDT
by
allmendream
(Wealth is EARNED not distributed, so how could it be RE-distributed?)
To: EternalVigilance
24
posted on
10/27/2009 12:33:59 PM PDT
by
east1234
(It's the borders stupid! My new environmentalist inspired tagline: cut, kill, dig and drill)
To: JoeProBono
Maybe we could import them to use as green transportation. I’d rather ride a camel than one of those tiny electric tuna can cars.
25
posted on
10/27/2009 12:34:25 PM PDT
by
giotto
To: Obadiah
26
posted on
10/27/2009 12:34:55 PM PDT
by
JoeProBono
(A closed mouth gathers no feet)
To: ProudFossil
Stands to reason, I mean they are grazers. In general, and this is an oversimplification, vegetarian type animals can be pretty tasty, but carnivores are alot nastier.
27
posted on
10/27/2009 12:35:14 PM PDT
by
djf
(Grasshopper: The game is rigged. Patience takes forever to learn. You're so screwed!!)
To: ProudFossil
Very interesting.
It’s amazing how some species thrive all on their own.
...then there’s the American college student!
28
posted on
10/27/2009 12:37:03 PM PDT
by
Palladin
(The Obama Administration: "A Czar Too Far")
To: EggsAckley
Do you live near Janet Reno?
29
posted on
10/27/2009 12:38:18 PM PDT
by
Palladin
(The Obama Administration: "A Czar Too Far")
To: ProudFossil
The camels are like the rabbits, only bigger
30
posted on
10/27/2009 12:38:41 PM PDT
by
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
(He said red, yellow, black or white, All are equal in his sight, Mmm, mmm, mm!, Barack Hussein Obama)
To: JoeProBono
On the one hand it would be great to live in Australia with all the plauge species they have to shoot, on the other hand they have strict gun laws that make shooting them difficult.
31
posted on
10/27/2009 12:41:38 PM PDT
by
Hacklehead
(Liberalism is the art of taking what works, breaking it, and then blaming conservatives.)
To: 17th Miss Regt
"The USA had 60,000,000 donkeys last November"
I know its not zoologically correct, but I consider them to be more like 60 million jackasses.
32
posted on
10/27/2009 12:42:21 PM PDT
by
Lockbar
(March toward the sound of the guns.)
To: Lockbar
"I know its not zoologically correct, but I consider them to be more like 60 million jackasses."
And most of them are in Congress!
33
posted on
10/27/2009 12:45:21 PM PDT
by
Young Werther
("Quae Cum Ita Sunt - Julius Caesar "Since these things are so!">)
To: JoeProBono
34
posted on
10/27/2009 12:46:01 PM PDT
by
MCCC
To: MCCC
35
posted on
10/27/2009 12:49:45 PM PDT
by
MCCC
To: JoeProBono
Australia has so many camels that they export them to the Middle East.
36
posted on
10/27/2009 12:55:50 PM PDT
by
Blood of Tyrants
(The Second Amendment. Don't MAKE me use it.)
To: paulycy
37
posted on
10/27/2009 12:56:58 PM PDT
by
Blood of Tyrants
(The Second Amendment. Don't MAKE me use it.)
To: djf
And some carnivores are worse than others. I have heard that grizzly bear tastes like rotten fish.
38
posted on
10/27/2009 12:59:17 PM PDT
by
Blood of Tyrants
(The Second Amendment. Don't MAKE me use it.)
To: Blood of Tyrants
Yup.
Don’t emus/ostriches spit also? Must be a Southern hemisphere habit...
39
posted on
10/27/2009 1:02:10 PM PDT
by
djf
(Grasshopper: The game is rigged. Patience takes forever to learn. You're so screwed!!)
To: JoeProBono
40
posted on
10/27/2009 1:07:08 PM PDT
by
MrDaddyLongLegs
(You dont need any qualifications to be a Politician)
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