Posted on 02/10/2008 6:55:56 PM PST by blam
Camel hunting, the new Aboriginal pastime
By Nick Squires in Sydney
Last Updated: 7:05pm GMT 10/02/2008
Aborigines in Australia's arid desert interior have hit on an innovative way of tackling the boredom and substance abuse which have ravaged so many of their communities - hunting camels.
Camel hunting is the innovative new way of tackling the boredom and substance abuse which have ravaged Aboriginal communities
Where their forbears pursued traditional prey such as kangaroos and monitor lizards, the younger generation is heading into the scrub to shoot plentiful one-humped dromedaries.
The camels were introduced in the 19th century from India to haul supplies for explorers, pioneers and prospectors. They became redundant with the advent of railways and motor cars and thousands were released into the wild.
However, they adapted to Australian conditions extraordinarily well and are now considered a pest. More than a million roam the Outback, mostly in South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Biologists say the population is doubling every eight years.
They are seen as a growing threat to desert ecosystems and Outback cattle properties because they foul water holes and barge through wire fences.
In the remote outpost of Kintore, a six-hour drive west of Alice Springs, Aborigine teenagers venture into the desert once a week in search of feral camels.
The camels are mostly shot by police officers, who accompany the hunting expedition
The camels are mostly shot by one of the town's three police officers, who accompany the hunting expeditions.
"The first time we went out, we got three camels - two big ones and one small one," said Farren Marks, 19, who like many young men in the community has no job and spends much of the day listening to American gangster rap music.
"It makes me happy to go out hunting because I can bring back meat for my family."
Like many isolated Aboriginal settlements, Kintore offers few jobs and almost no recreational opportunities. Boredom and frustration drive teenagers to crime, alcohol, cannabis use and petrol sniffing - a habit which can leave addicts wheelchair-bound or dead.
The camel hunting initiative started six months ago. So far around 15 animals have been shot and butchered by a shifting group of around 20 hunters, the youngest just 13.
"The young fellas are pretty good at tracking the camels," said Tom Holyoake, a white youth worker tasked with preventing substance abuse in the town of 300 people.
"When they find a camel they shoot it, butcher it, bring the meat back and share it with their families."
Despite there being so many camels, Aborigines had in the past been reluctant to hunt them because of religious beliefs.
Many older indigenous people, educated in Christian mission schools, came to regard the animals as sacred because camels bore the Three Wise Men to see baby Jesus.
"Now that [eating camel] has been approved, people grab the meat as quick as they can and go off and start cooking dinner," said Mr Holyoake.
good one LOL
So they’ve shot 15 out of 1 Million. Boys, you need to improve your marksmanship. If you aren’t killing 1 per day, something is horribly wrong.
PETA will put an end to this. Or, in Australia, they’ll die trying.
Does it taste like chicken?
>>The camels are mostly shot by police officers, who accompany the hunting expedition<<
Is that because the Aussies all had to turn in their shootin’ irons to the Gumm’int?
A reminder: That rifle on the wall of the laborer’s cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there. George Orwell
YEOWTCH!!!
actually the pic shows a dromedary - a single humper, rather than the more familiar bactrain double humper.
hehhehheh!
No, because we didn't. This myth has wide currency in the United States, but it is a myth.
There are millions of guns legally held by private citizens in Australia. Law abiding citizens can legally own firearms. We've got some dumb laws concerning registration and storage (certainly can't hang something on a wall - if not in use under active control, it's locked away in a safe), and you have to have different types of licences for different types of guns, but Australians are not disarmed - and in the areas where its possible to hunt camels, it would not be hard to get a gun for hunting camels.
Personally, I own one of these:
and one of these:
as well as a number of basic hunting rifles. And I am certainly not heavily armed compared to friends (some of them are collectors - for me a firearm is a tool, and I can only use one rifle and one handgun at a time, so for me what I have is enough.)
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