‘Yes!’ says Pete Siedel of the Central Australian Camel Industry Association based in Alice Springs.

“We already have producers running camels instead of cattle on their more marginal country and that will only increase,” he says.

“Our trade with one importer in Malaysia went from 20 to 300 animals per shipment in 4 months. This has levelled out at the moment but will kick again as we approach the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.”

Pete Siedel recently organised the shipment of 118 live camels from Darwin to Saudi Arabia in what is the beginning of a 5000 head per year trade with a single client.

The world demand for camel far exceeds supply and there is no chance of that changing in the foreseeable future. In the last three years there has been increased demand for Australian live camels from the Middle East, West Africa, and some Asian countries.

Industry insiders say the biggest limiting factor to the Australian camel industry is the absence of an export abattoir and until someone bites the bullet and invests in this side of the industry, it is not going to be able to reach its potential.

The raw material, in the form of feral camels is certainly abundant. A recent aerial survey by Northern Territory’s Parks and Wildlife Commission shows feral populations have exploded with the run of good seasons in Central Australia.

According to survey coordinator, Dr Glen Edwards, there could be upwards of 200,000 feral camels in the Northern Territory with around 70,000 of these roaming the Simpson Desert.

Estimates of 15,000 to 20,000 animals on the South Australian side of the Desert suggests a population with the potential to significantly impact on the fragile desert environment.

“In high numbers camels can have a severe impact on waterholes and the fragile vegetation around salt lakes,” says Glen Edwards.

“They are selective browsers and can hit individual species such as the Quandong pretty hard, stripping the trees bare.”

As a result of the burgeoning numbers in the NT, a program of mustering where feasible and culling elsewhere is likely to be instituted to minimise adverse impacts on the environment.

Meanwhile, pastoralists are caught between the control of feral animals and the development of a rangelands industry with the potential to be extremely lucrative, particularly in times of drought or low cattle prices, or on the marginal country.

While the economic drivers to turn pastoralists from the traditional cattle to camels are not yet there, work is being done to build the basis of an industry with a lot of opportunity according to its advocates.

And one of its staunchest supporters is William Creek camel man, Phil Gee. Phil conducts camel treks into the isolated country to the west of Lake Eyre and also musters feral camels out of the southern fringes of the Simpson Desert.

In conjunction with Western Mining Corporation’s land management team, Phil is operating a small ‘Camels in Pastoralism’ trial program west of Marree.

While it is currently more profitable to agist cattle, WMC is interested in alternative uses for pastoral land and is supporting this camel trial by providing an area on Stuart Creek Station for the animals to be grazed.

Camel advocates claim that in a controlled grazing situation, their animals are more gentle on the country than cattle. They have soft feet that tend not to break up the soil surface and they browse over a wide variety of trees, shrubs and other plants.

Phil Gee has run 50 camels at Stuart Creek Station for 2 years with no discernible impact and permission has now been obtained from the Pastoral Board to increase the numbers to 200.

Even this is cautious says Phil and is a reflection of the largely negative attitude towards the camel.

“We have to get away from viewing the camel as a pest and see it as a resource,” he says. If we can do that, we’ll get a far more balanced approach to the issue.