Do camels live in Australia?

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semi_conscious666

yas they do live here, they knock down our dingo fence! they are NOT native!

http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/photos_public.gne?tags=dingofence&lang=en-us&format=rss_200

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/dog-fence-no-match-for-amorous-camels-445755.html

petey00petey

LOTS OF THEM
The very first camel to ever set foot on the red Australian soil arrived in 1840 and came from the Canary Islands. (This was a somewhat unlucky camel, as it accidentally caused its owners death and was subsequently shot...)

But this first camel was soon followed by others. 24 more camels arrived in Australia in 1860 to be part of the Bourke and Wills expedition. And in the next fifty years an estimated 10 000 to 12 000 camels made their way to Australia!

The camels came to Australia mostly from India and Palestine, and nearly all of them were dromedaries (the one humped variety Camelus dromedarius). Apparently there were only about 20 two humped camels (bactrian camels of the species Camelus bactrianus) imported during that time.

On top of that Australians also started breeding their own camels. The first of several Australian camel studs was established in 1866 in South Australia, and the studs went on to operate for fifty more years. (Interestingly the working camels bred in Australia turned out to be of much higher quality than the imported camels...)

â€¢ Koala â€¢ uÊop É¹Çpun

They are not native, but live here.

The first Camel Race in Australia started off as a bet and was run in 1970 in the dry Todd River Bed - see info on the Camel Cup (Races) http://www.camelcup.com.au

Also we have Camel Safaris - http://www.austcamel.com.au/

Daryl T

Yes they were introduced here and are not native to this country. They live in Outback Aussie free and wild.So in one way you are both right.

iansand9876

Not only do they live here - we are the only place in the world where there is a significant wild population of dromedaries. No bactrians.

tuppenybitz

australia has more WILD camels than anywhere in the world

camels are not native to australia they were transported there and when no longer needed were set free and thats why there are so many today

liz down under

The wild ones that live in central Australia are being rounded up and exported to places like Saudia Arabia where they fetch a lot of money (they are very good quality and good for the camel races over there). Nobody has mentioned the Afghani's and their camels that helped with the early exploration of the outback. That is how the 'Ghan' train got its name.
They are not native but they have been here for over 150 years.

mumx1boy

collect your $20.
There are around 300,000 feral camels in outback Australia (more than the arab nations in total!) & they are not in zoos & such!
Refer the interesting news article from Australia's ABC news. I'm sure you will have even more questions after reading this !!

Elizabeth

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE AUSTRALIAN CAMEL & RACING
The camel was introduced to Australia in the latter half of the 1800s and was used extensively for exploration purposes and as a pack animal. Following the advent of more modern transport such as road and rail, the camels were released into the wild by their owners and left to their own devices.

By 1895 the camel population had increased to approximately 6,000 head and today the population is estimated at up to 150,000 animals.

Camel racing in Australia began on a regular basis as picnic meetings back in the early part of this century at various outback towns and locations and in recent years has the first major race was held at Alice Springs in 1971. The initial Albury camel races were held in 1996 and in 1997 saw a crowd of around 10,000 people. 1998 saw the initial camel race meeting at Leeton in N.S.W. an. event that attracted a crowd in excess of 10,000.

The Mouse II

Yes, they do live here.
Not native but certainly lots of free roaming camels living wild in the outback. NOT in zoos or enclosure.

Cheers

Rita M

Hmmm, hopefully your brother lets it count that camels have lived in Australia for 150 years now, freely, not on zoos!

As already said, they helped a lot to open up Australia's vast inland. After the camels were released in the 1920s, they've found good conditions in the Australian Outback, and the population has been growing since then.

Unlike other introduced animals like rabbits and foxes which became really pests, the feral camels don't have such a destroying impact to Australia's environment.

Read more about Australian camels http://www.ritas-outback-guide.com/AustralianCamels.html

Hope you'll win the dispute :).

Sauce

yes but not native

Mel

Pay your bro $10 and call it even.

slipstreamer

Not native.

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