Thousands of feral camels that have wreaked havoc in local communities in the Australian outback are being shot dead from helicopters after drought and extreme heat exacerbated the problem.
Aboriginal leaders of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, a local government area in South Australia’s remote far north-west said this in Canberra.
Aboriginal leaders ordered the operation to control large feral herds of camels desperate for water which were damaging towns and settlements.
“This is the first major culling in this region,” Richard King, the General Manager for APY Lands, said on Thursday.
Some 1,500 camels were killed on the first day on Thursday, he said, adding it will likely continue until this weekend.
It has been sanctioned by the state government.
The vast, remote and mostly desert area is 103,000 square kilometres in size, roughly the size of Iceland, but has only about 2,300 people.
Up to 10,000 camels will be killed within a week by professional shooters on helicopters, King said.
In Australia, the camels are not native, so they have no natural predator.
According to estimates by wildlife experts, there are up to 600,000 feral camels, mostly in Central Australia.
King said his area had seen drought for the past 18 months.
“That and increasing heat has made camels walk into villages and break fences, knock down water tanks, and destroy air conditioners and food storages in the arid region where water is extremely valuable,” he added.
Australia experienced the warmest and driest year on record in 2019, the weather bureau said on Thursday, which comes against the backdrop of millions of hectares of land razed by ferocious bush fires. (dpa/NAN)
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