Once the backbone of outback exploration, the nation's camels could be headed for a desert abattoir

Once the backbone of outback exploration, the nation's camels could be headed for a desert abattoir. Every eight years wild camel numbers are doubling in Australia, experts have found.. "They thrive in the Australian desert. It's a camel paradise," said Glenn Edwards from the Northern Territory's Parks and Wildlife Commission. The wild camels are descendants of working animals released into the wild when they were replaced by cars. Up to 1 million roam free through the Northern Territory and surrounding states.

"It used to be that if you asked what was Australia's worst vertebrate pest I would say the rabbit. That's changed a bit. In terms of the desert country camels are now up there with feral goats in my opinion."

One of the solutions that has been thought up is aerial shooting of the camels, the same way as wild horses have been killed and the reason why they are near to being endangered in the wild.

"Although the aerial shooting of large animals such as horses and camels is a highly emotive issue, it is the most effective and humane technique of culling large feral [herbivores] in remote, inaccessible situations." Said one source.

The burgeoning camel industry has its own solution - an export-licensed, halal-certified abattoir to produce camel meat for overseas sale.

Feral Camels in Australia are now being threatened with aerial shootings and slaughtering for their meat.

The last remaining true wild camels in China are being protected from extinction . www.wildcamels.com is a website and non profit dedicated to saving the last of the wild Bactrian camels . Read about their DNA and what makes them different from the camels in Australia!