OMFGG Thousand of camels to be culled

[Tortington]

here

I never even knew that there were camels there. I am not usually an animal activist as such but this seems so extreme.

I am going to have to leave a comment

Thing is though custy - have you ever tried putting a condom on a camel? How many options do you think there are to cope with this?

You guys seriously have no idea of the realities of the Australian bush do you?

England is so lovely and gentle and soft, it really is wonderful. Australia is NOT LIKE THAT. Basically we get to choose between native species and feral animals. The bush simply can't support both.

Morloth, i am under no illusion about the fragility of the Aus ecosystem and feral camels. if they want a cull/kill then bloody well get on with it. not dress it up as a holiday for rednecks that may remove a few hundred. I am guestimating tht getting rid of

ok a million camels in oz, then they need to remove

I am 100% with Morloth.

There is currently a team of snipers in Sydney protecting a small population of fairy penguins from dog attacks at night. Native Australian animals have, in most cases, evolved completely without predators, so feral cats, foxes etc are destroying whole populations.

If you are a little marsupial mouse or a wallaby and you need to shelter from the 45' heat in the middle of the day, where are you going to hide if a million camels have eaten all the shade trees, which also host the insect populations you depend upon for food?

Not only should they be culled, it should be illegal to buy a pet that hasn't been neutered.

Edam - no matter how distasteful you find blood sports, the reality is that the world over hunters conserve the habitat and creatures that they hunt. The English countryside looks the way it does because of fox hunting and pheasant shooting. The Australian situation is slightly different in that the ecosystem as a whole is under threat, but personally I can't see a problem charging someone to shoot an animal that is going to be killed anyway. No doubt the money raised will be ploughed back into conservation efforts there. The Brits are ridiculously sentimental about fluffy animals and yet couldn't give a shit about real conservation. A good example is the grey squirrel population - there should be a cull in Britain with a bounty paid for every grey squirrel shot. Unfortunately this will never happen and trees will continue to be destroyed and our native squirrel, the red, will continue to be threatened with extinction.

I agree callisto

My DH is a shooter and the he and the kids eat pheasant, rabbit, duck etc that he has shot - you don't get more free range than that! I'd much rather that than some poor battery miserable chicken

Sorry, but bollocks to fox hunting improving the environment. Sheesh.

And yes, country estates are managed to make them a good environment for pheasant hunting - that's the way the landowners like it. Are you suggesting we should bow down in gratitude because rich people run their estates the way they like it?

The British - not English - countryside looks the way it does because of farming.

And I've got no problem at all with individuals shooting wild animals to eat.

Do have a problem with rich gits pretending they are performing a public service.

I guess they do it as a defence mechanism against the class warriors (i.e. the Labour party) who want them to stop.

at the idea of New Labour being class warriors.

Edam, I think you'll find that all the lovely copses, hedgerows and plantations would have been ploughed under in the 60's and 70's if it wasn't for hunting/shooting needing the wilder areas for game cover. Hunts/shoots and farmers have worked together to conserve and use the countryside like this for generations. So hunting and shooting has shaped the countryside and is good for conservation. I don't expect anyone to bow down in gratitude to anyone else, but yes, I think you do have lots of landowners, rich and poor, to thank for the beauty of the British countryside.

BTW, why are you so insulted by rich landowners?

Don't worry edam plenty of Aussie rednecks are out there shooting camels for free. I have never done a camel shoot (and quite hypcritically couldn't ever shoot a Brumby), but our method of hunting was to hang off the back of the ute usually having drunk too much yelling and shouting and falling off.

It was 50/50 whether we would hit a pig or rabbit or someone on another ute really.

I'm a KNOB me.

What would the incentive be in going on a camel hunt?

Here are people talking about the beautiful English countryside looking this way due to fox/pheasant hunting (which I find hard to believe but let's crack on) and needing cover.

There i s presumably no cover whatsoever for camels in teh bush. So no hunting enjoyment, right? They are not particularly speedy and they can't hide - so it's like splatting spiders?

Is camel meat eaten by people?

Hmm. Many of the landowners in Scotland refuse to do much deer culling and they are ravaging the Scottish countryside and have been for decades.

pointydog Do you have any idea of the sheer distances involved? You would need a decent tracker for sure. You would also need to know how to survive, probably a plane/helicopter for spotting, you would need someone who knew what equipment to use, where to find water, etc.

There are sheep stations the size of Switzerland.

To drive from Sydney to the Alice across the desert takes more than 36 hours solid driving (and you are not even halfway across Australia).

You get it wrong out there and you are dead, no second chances.

It would be quite challenging I think, that would be part of the fun.

ok. camel hunting would be a challenge then?

Camels are not natural speces indgenous to Australia - they should all be shot. They escaped from human captivity anyway. We put them there and we should deal with them.

Humanely of course.

Hell yeah, the buggers can move over long distances without water. How much fuel/water/supplies can you carry?

They would blend in with the terrain so you would need to know what to look for. As I mentioned you would need to find them first (needle in a haystack), though I guess you would start at a waterhole (not many of those).

Just staying alive for any length of time in the bush is a skill to be proud of.

That's true, Morloth. So it's a much fairer fight than ruddy fox hunting in the UK then?

Callisto, am not generally bothered by rich landowners, as long as they aren't harming anyone. Have met some very charming ones, as it happens. Just object to the idea that the rich are somehow doing everyone else a favour by enjoying themselves.

And hunting clearly is harming someone - the hunted. If people really want to show off about how big and brave and manly they are, there are better ways of doing it.

I don't think people generally hunt to show off how big and brave they are (unless they are arseholes who shouldn't be allowed to hunt). Hunting is generally perceived to be all about skill and outwitting the quarry. And as for hunting 'someone' I don't think many people hunt other people with the veiw to killing them when they are caught.

Well I am not sure I agree with the word "someone" being used to describe an animal, I would use "something" - but perhaps an argument for another thread.

I have no idea about fox hunting in the UK, we poison them in Australia. Different dynamic though remember, foxes are feral and chomp through native animals, I think you are actually required to kill them if you come across them on your land. Totally different beast too. We have a fox who lives on our roof here in London and she is breathtakingly beautiful - a world away from the scabby mangy things in Australia. I assume though there must be some skill involved, even if it isn't survival. I know I can't ride like that, no idea how to train and control a hunting dog.

I don't object to hunting (obviously) but I think in order for it to be a sport there has to be some element of danger and risk and an opportunity for the hunted to "win".

However, when it comes to camels, rabbits, toads, pigs, feral cats, wild dogs (not dingos) and brumbies the culls should be government controlled and en mass. Any businesses should be run on top of the official kills not instead of them.

There was some talk in Australia a few years ago when the fox hunting ban was introduced here about maybe setting up fox hunts in Australia. But it just wasn't feasible. We use barbed wire fences (not hedgerows), the ground is usually rock hard and uneven, laced with stones etc.

You can't really compared fox hunting in the UK with camel hunting in the outback is what I guess I am saying. And when people who clearly have no idea of the situation talk about the poor camels it just sounds utterly ridiculous. Living in the outback is like living on the edge of a knife. There are the native animals to consider but there are also people running cattle/sheep stations who are competing with the camels for feed. If you object to camels being killed then you had better make damn sure that you never buy Australian meat products/wool/lanolin etc.

General you obviously.

Gawd I miss home! The heat, the flies, the sky that goes all the way to the edges, the red dust, I have little cousins who are almost 5 and have never seen rain.

"the culls should be government controlled and en mass. Any businesses should be run on top of the official kills not instead of them."

agree with that

I think it's abhorrent to encourage blood sports by charging people to shoot them.

I also think they should be culled humanely by extremely qualified professionals - I bet there's a human way to dart them/ stun them and then kill them.

I hate the thought of animals dying in distress - if you're going to kill an animal then it should be done quickly with little stress.

I'm really about this. Stupid fucking rednecks.

I can think of a few reasons for being insulted by the notion of rich landowners but that's be another thread.