Australia: Can't finish it, simply can't finish it

Is the root cause of Australia’s camel overpopulation actually colonial history?

If someone says they’re planning a big deal to sell camels from the Southern Hemisphere to the Middle East, people would definitely think they’re crazy.

In most people’s understanding, camels are mostly found in the Northern Hemisphere, with the Middle East being their main habitat, so this kind of business sounds like “selling coal in Shanxi,” “selling coconuts in Hainan,” or “shipping penguins to Antarctica”—a sure loss, not profit.

But the reality is different. For years, the Australian government has been tirelessly promoting its camels to wealthy Middle Eastern buyers.

“Ladies and gentlemen, look here, we have so many camels we can’t even count them, they’re just eating us out of house and home. Selling them cheaply, just cover the shipping, and they’ll be gone.”

So the question is, how does Australia have camels? And how did these desert ships become amphibious, crossing water and land, despite being separated from Eurasia by a vast ocean?

Is it all the British’s fault?

First, it’s important to clarify that Australia indeed has a large number of camels, with a current population exceeding 1.5 million.

Camels are widely distributed across Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, and the Northern Territory, covering about 37% of the Australian continent.

Today, Australia is recognized by the World Animal Protection Organization as having the world’s largest wild camel population.

This sounds absurd—camels have never been native to Australia; they are a true invasive species.

The Australian National Museum explains that in 1788, the British Royal Navy officer Arthur Phillip established the first colony in New South Wales along the Australian coast. Arthur believed that once the colony was established, he had to explore the over 7 million square kilometers of land in Australia.

Soon, Arthur found that the inland conditions were extremely harsh—perpetually arid, with endless deserts. Multiple exploration parties either got lost or died of thirst.

British explorers tried horses, donkeys, mules, and even cattle for transportation, but without exception, these animals would die of thirst long before reaching the desert interior.

Before the animals died, the donkeys would die of thirst first.

Finally, the British turned to the native Middle Eastern single-hump camel, which stands about 2 meters tall, smaller than the Bactrian camel, with long limbs and broad, thick feet suitable for desert travel. More importantly, these camels are drought-tolerant—they can walk for long distances without water.

Thus, starting in 1836, the British began importing camels from India to Australia. Over nearly a century, Australia imported more than 20k camels from the Arabian Peninsula, India, and Afghanistan.

Camels played a crucial role in the British colonization of inland Australia—they transported ore, laid roads, and moved supplies into areas inaccessible to horses.

Similarly, after the British completed the Industrial Revolution, they introduced railways to Australia, and the demand for gold and wool exports accelerated the development of the railway system.

By the early 20th century, with the rapid expansion of railway transportation and the widespread use of internal combustion engines, the camel industry inevitably declined.

1920s, central Australia—camels drinking water / Photo by the Australian National Museum

No matter how much water they don’t drink, they couldn’t compete with trains. The camels were laid off.

But no one wanted to pay to send the camels back to the Middle East, so many were released into the wild, left to fend for themselves.

Camels that had worked hard for half a lifetime, losing their jobs but gaining freedom, happily roamed free.

To deal with the camel crisis, the Australian government established the Australian Wild Camel Management Program in 2009. The program’s team explained: camels can live up to 40 years, reach sexual maturity at 4, and females can give birth to over ten calves in their lifetime, with a very high survival rate. Australia’s top native predators, dingoes, are much smaller and cannot prey on adult camels.

“Dogs don’t bother”—the camel population is increasing exponentially, doubling roughly every 7 to 9 years.

Marching their own path, letting others drink northwest wind

Initially, the relaxed and carefree Australians didn’t care much about the surging camel numbers. After all, the places where camels lived were uninhabited, and most of the population was along the coast. Camels could breed freely without disturbing anyone, living their lives peacefully.

Australian camel herds / Video screenshot

But soon, people realized things weren’t as simple as they seemed.

The first conflict arose over water sources. Camels are drought-tolerant but not waterless. Compared to other animals, camels can go long periods without water, but when they do drink, they consume huge amounts at once.

An adult camel can drink 200 liters of water in one go. As mentioned earlier, Australia’s natural geography is limited in freshwater resources. So when large numbers of camels couldn’t find water, human settlements became their targets.

They stormed farms, damaged fences, kicked down doors, knocked over wind turbines, tore off water taps, and dug up water pipes—using any means to find water, even condensation from air conditioners.

Camels not only increased conflicts with humans but also impacted native Australian animals and ecosystems. Due to their large size, the growing camel population put pressure on other native species, and the already scarce water resources became even more strained.

One thirsty camel can be equivalent to five kangaroos.

Even more absurd, camels eat roots, shrubs, and bark, which inhibits plant regeneration. Land that has been grazed by camels accelerates desertification and land degradation.

The burping and farting of well-fed camels are also changing the environment. Australian researchers reported that 1.5 million camels emit harmful gases annually equivalent to the exhaust of 400k cars.

In 2011, Australian legislator Truss proposed the “Kill Camels, Save the Earth” initiative, but it was quickly criticized by animal protection groups. The proposal remained just that—a proposal.

Australian government