It’s gas! Kill a camel to save the planet

IN 1859 two Irishmen, Robert O’Hara Burke and William John Wills, led the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north.

It was an ill-fated venture; 12 of the 19 men who set out died on the trek, including both Burke and Wills. There was also an environmental legacy. Camels were imported from India to do the heavy lifting. Able to go for days without water in the hot dry outback, these ‘ships of the desert’ could carry 600kg up to 30km each day. The camel proved to be such an ideal pack animal that Australians fell in love with it. Over 10,000 animals had been imported by 1900 and camel stud farms flourished.

During the 1920s, motorised transport became available so camels were released into the wild. They thrived. There are now more camels in Australia than anywhere else in the world. Numbers may exceed 200,000.