Australia awaits word on import of wild camels

Author: 
LAURA BASHRAHEEL | ARAB NEWS
Publication Date: 
Tue, 2010-02-23 02:02

Ministry spokeswoman Sheree Glasson confirmed the news after recent reports that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states were finding ways to stop Australia culling camels in the country.
In January Arab News reported on some Saudis who initiated an Internet campaign calling for the transportation of Australian camels to the Kingdom.
The campaign followed an announcement by the Australian government that it would use helicopters and marksmen to corral and kill 6,000 feral camels in a small northern town.
Days later Australians welcomed the proposal to send their wild camels to Saudi Arabia instead of shooting them. At the same time, they warned that the process of transferring the animals would be expensive.
"The cull is unfortunate. We're happy to put Saudis in touch with camel exporting companies in Australia. However, it's very expensive to bring them to Saudi Arabia," said Michael Kavanagh, counselor and senior trade commissioner of the Australian Embassy in the Kingdom.
In order to transport the camels, there are logistical problems to be considered such as the lack of roads, the vast deserts that need to be traversed and the large size of the animals. Kavanagh said his office in Australia was producing figures on how much it would cost to transport the camels to Saudi Arabia.
Glasson however said in an interview with a local news agency that the main objective of the culling program is to reduce the growing numbers in some areas and reduce environmental pollution.
She also pointed to the fact that gases emitted by the camels are equivalent to the polluted smoke coming out of nearly 300,000 cars.
The Australian government is committed to the implementation of this program, Glasson said, pointing out that her government had received no official request for transferring these camels.
She explained that there were a number of conditions that needed to be taken into consideration in the event of receiving such a request.
They include the stipulation that the transport of camels should be compliant with the requirements of the Australian government and animal welfare policies.
The problem began when camels caused chaos more than five months ago in the Northern Territory town of Docker River, smashing water tanks, destroying fences, approaching houses and antagonizing people.
Online readers and poll participants also proposed solutions on how to make use of the camels instead of killing them and some have welcomed the Saudi campaign to provide a home for the wild animals.
There are about one million feral camels throughout Australia, with numbers doubling every eight or nine years.

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