MOST of Australia's one million camels are running wild and damaging sensitive environmental areas and infrastructure in Central Australia.
But about 10,000 camels in small, managed herds are working hard controlling weeds, increasing beef production and providing an additional source of income for graziers in Queensland.
Camels have a long history in Australia, dating back to 1840. Imported and bred as beasts of burden, they were instrumental in the exploration and development of the dry interior.
From the mid-1800s to 1907, an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 camels were imported into Australia.
In the 1920s, motorised transport replaced the camel teams and most of the managed camels were released and have established as wild herds throughout central Australia.
Almost 100 years on, debate continues about how to manage these wild herds - on one hand, feral camel culling, and on the other, a push to establish camel farming, producing meat, milk, wool and hides.
Lauren Brisbane, chairwoman of the Australian Camel Industry Association (ACIA), said there is unfulfilled demand for camel product across the world, and graziers can easily integrate camels into their existing management systems.
"Camels and cattle co-graze very well, and camels can effectively open up heavily wooded country," she said.
"Camels can even boost cattle growth rates by sharing a gut bacterium with the cattle that helps them convert feed to energy more efficiently."
Dr Rafat Al Jassim, senior lecturer at the University of Queensland School of Animal Science, has studied the beneficial co-grazing effect on cattle grazing tropical and subtropical forages that contain tannins.
With 10,000-head of camels already in managed herds under the Stock Act in Queensland and a camel- processing works in Caboolture, Meramist, looking for more animals to process to fill export orders, Ms Brisbane believes there is an opportunity for graziers to buy feral camels and run them as an additional income stream, alongside their cattle.
"Markets exist in Europe, the US and the UK, and Australian camel meat is already being sold into these markets," she said.
"Feral camels are quickly tamed. When they have access to adequate feed and water, they are placid animals, and can be managed using existing fences and yards."
The ratio of camels to cattle varies according to the vegetation type.
While they do eat some grass, about 75 per cent of their diet is browse. They will raise the canopy of woody weeds, allowing grasses to establish, and readily eat a variety of weeds like parkinsonia.
A Tropical Weeds Research Centre project studied the effect of grazing camels on parkinsonia. The field study quantified camel impacts by monitoring 20 mature plants on both grazed and non-grazed paddocks on two properties.
Results show that camels selectively graze flowers, buds and young leaf, and can effectively control parkinsonia. After three years of grazing, the soil seed bank was significantly reduced, compared to areas that had not been grazed.
In addition to meat products, camels are highly regarded for their milk. Camel cows produce around seven to 10 litres of milk per day, and the industry is working with Safe Foods Queensland to develop a camel dairy industry to produce fresh and powdered milk for the domestic and export market.
Feral camels in central Australia are responsible for damaging the natural environment through uncontrolled access to sensitive areas and their instinctive drive for reproduction, food and water.
In contrast to feral camels, sustainably managed camels in Queensland cause little damage to the environment because they walk from paddock to paddock through gates, use the water sources supplied by the grazier, can help control weeds and are soft-hooved.
On Saturday, July 14, the first ACIA Queensland Camel Field Day will be held at Bindanoon, home of Camel Milk Australia in the South Burnett. There will be demonstrations of camel milking and husbandry, information on supply, and experts presenting their research and speaking of their experience in the industry.