Australia: Usually you would have seen that there is an attempt to save the flora and fauna around the world, but a decision by the leaders in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, Australia has surprised one and all.
Officials have ordered to kill about 10,000 wild camels in South Australia to conserve drinking water in drought-prone areas. The campaign will begin Wednesday, in which professional shooters will hunt camels by helicopter and shoot them to death.
The camels’ bodies will be burnt or buried if they are accessible. However, in remote areas, their bodies will be left as it is.
The camels are also being removed due to concerns about greenhouse gas emissions, since camels emit one ton of carbon dioxide per year.
The animals’ population also doubles every nine years if not regulated. If no camel prevention plan is introduced.
Tim Moore, the chief executive of carbon farming expert RegenCo, says that one million wild camels emit as much methane and carbon dioxide per year is almost equivalent to more than 400,000 cars plying on road. However, the Department of Energy and Environment says that wild animal emissions should not be considered in the country’s emissions estimates because they are not under domestic management.
The planned killing of the camels comes at a time the country is ravaged by wildfires since November. The disaster has killed more than a dozen people and caused the displacement or deaths of 480 million animals, according to University of Sydney researchers.