Are feral camel numbers really increasing?
• Between 1880 and 1907 up to 20 000 camels were imported into Australia • In 1920 register records give the number of captive camels as 12 649 • In 1941 register records give the number of captive camels as fewer than 2300 • Over the 1920s and 1930s many were released into the bush – between 1920 and 1941 it is possible that between 5000 and 10 000 were released. • Between 1940 and 1966 the population was not monitored • In 1966, the estimate was 15 000–20 000 feral camels across outback Australia (McKnight 1969) • Between 1980 and 1983, Short et al. (1988) produced a minimum population estimate of 43 000 camels in a broad belt-like distribution through central Australia from Broome in Western Australia to western Queensland. • In 2001, the minimum national population estimate was about 300 000 camels (Edwards et al. 2004) • In 2006, the minimum estimate was about 730 000 camels Ward et al. (2006) • In 2008 the minimum population estimate was just under 1 million. Feral camels are now
