AUSTRALIA: ABORIGINIES IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORIES ARE AIMING TO CREATE A THRIVING CAMEL MUSTER FROM THE WILD CAMEL POPULATION
Record ID:
838161
AUSTRALIA: ABORIGINIES IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORIES ARE AIMING TO CREATE A THRIVING CAMEL MUSTER FROM THE WILD CAMEL POPULATION
- Title: AUSTRALIA: ABORIGINIES IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORIES ARE AIMING TO CREATE A THRIVING CAMEL MUSTER FROM THE WILD CAMEL POPULATION
- Date: 12th November 2004
- Summary: (L!2) DOCKER RIVER, NORTHERN TERRITORY, AUSTRALIA (RECENT) (REUTERS-ACCESS ALL) VARIOUS: OF WILD CAMELS WALKING THROUGH DESERT (4 SHOTS 24 SECONDS) WS: ABORIGINAL WORKERS DRIVING TRACTOR FILLED WITH LOGS TO BUILD STOCKADES TO TRAP WILD CAMELS LV: WORKERS CLIMBING OFF TRACTOR VARIOUS: OF WORKERS CHIPPING OFF BARK FROM LOGS (3 SHOTS) CU: WORKER IN TRACTOR SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEXSON WARD, FOREMAN OF CAMEL MUSTER PROJECT, SAYING: "We will work really hard to make this community strong so that we can let the world know that we are doing it, not for us and our community, but for everybody. And everybody can have a look and say, look they are doing it good in Docker River. So, some people will come and have a look for themselves and we are showing them." WS: DEXSON WARD'S FAMILY SITTING ON CAR OUTSIDE CAR MV/PAN DOWN: FAMILY MEMBER'S FACES LV: ABORIGINAL BOY PLAYING WITH TIN DRUM ON ROAD WS: ABORIGINES WALKING ON ROAD CU: MOTHER, DAUGHTER'S FACE WS: MOTHER AND DAUGHTER SITTING OUTSIDE SHOP LV: BOYS WALKING ACROSS ROAD LV/WS: FAMILY WALKING TO HOUSE SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) WAYNE ANTHONEY, PROJECT MANAGER FOR THE NYANGATJATJARA ABORIGINAL CORPORATION, SAYING: "This little project in Docker River which is a community of some 300 people is making a difference. People want to get out here and work. They would much rather work than hang around and do nothing. And you know petrol sniffing is a horrible thing, but you do it if you are bored. There people, I've seen the difference, they are really revitalized. They want to do this project, they want to make it work and they want to sell camels - they are proud of it, really proud of it." LV/WS: WORKERS WALKING THROUGH GRASS SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHRIS HILL, CAMEL MUSTER MANAGER, SAYING: "I believe camels will be very, very successful, because they breed out here and you don't actually have to maintain them, they are maintainance-free, and every year the numbers are improving and they are basically free for the community to harvest." (L!2) ALICE SPRINGS, NORTHERN TERRITORY, AUSTRALIA (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) VARIOUS: OF CAMEL FARM AND TOURISTS (9 SHOTS) SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOE JOHNS, AMERICAN TOURIST, SAYING: "Because we were in Australia and it was one of the things that we had read about, and I wanted to experience it." SCU: CAMELS GLEN EDWARDS, SENIOR SCIENTIST AT THE LV: NORTHERN TERRITORIES PARKS AND WILDLIFE SERVICES WALKING SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) GLEN EDWARDS, SENIOR SCIENTIST AT THE NORTHERN TERRITORY PARKS AND WILDLIFE SERVICES, SAYING: "If camels aren't brought under control and the population growth rate is not brought under control, and the population growth rate isn't reversed then we will be in a situation when the australian deserts, which aren't really true deserts, will eventually become true deserts. They will become devoid of a lot of vegetation and they won't be places where australian native species can live and survive." VARIOUS: OF TOURISTS RIDING CAMELS INTO SUNSET (2 SHOTS)
- Embargoed: 27th November 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: DOCKER RIVER, ALICE SPRINGS, NORTHERN TERRITORY, AUSTRALIA
- City:
- Country: Australia
- Topics: Business,Environment,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVACUOS6OR8H7QTX19ZVK0XL74SJ
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: Impoverished aboriginal community in central Australia aims to create thriving camel muster from wild camel population.
When you think of camels, Australia would probably be the last place that comes to mind.
However Australia is home to the largest wild dromedary camel population in the world. Experts say there are around 750, 000 camels roaming around the outback.
A remote indigenous community near Uluru (Ayers Rock) is trying to turn this growing resource into a lasting means of income.
The Docker River community are building a series of stockades to trap wild camels in a bid to tap into the lucrative Asian market and Middle Eastern market.
Australia started live exporting camels in 1996, and soon hopes to launch a new meat export market.
A tank of clean, fresh water inside the stockade will attract the camels and then after a few weeks, the crew will install one-way gates, trapping the animals.
The project was created by the Nyangatjatjara (pronounced niang-ata-jara) Aboriginal Corporation for about five years to alleviate poverty and break a cycle of narcotic abuse and petrol sniffing that has ravaged the community.
Foreman Dexson Ward is optimistic that the project will work.
"We will work really hard to make this community strong so that we can let the world know that we are doing it, not for us and our community, but for everybody. And everybody can have a look and say, look they are doing it good in Docker River. So, some people will come and have a look for themselves and we are showing them," Dexson Ward said.
Half a stockade was built a few years ago but the project ran out of money.
Only recently work has started again after a 50,000 Australia dollar (US$38,000) donation from the Winemakers' Federation of Australia.
Docker River has a population of 300 aborigines.
Like many indigenous communities, it is plagued by alcohol abuse, petrol sniffing and poverty.
Seventy percent of people in the area are unemployed and struggle to combine a traditional way of life with the demands of modern living.
Anthoney Wayne, who manages the project has seen how the camel muster has returned people's self esteem.
"This little project in Docker River which is a community of some 300 people is making a difference. People want to get out here and work. They would much rather work than hang around and do nothing. And you know petrol sniffing is a horrible thing, but you do it if you are bored. There people, I've seen the difference, they are really revitalized. They want to do this project, they want to make it work and they want to sell camels - they are proud of it, really proud of it," Wayne Anthoney, Project Manager for the Nyangatjatjara Aboriginal Community said.
Chris Hill, who runs the team of workers has been working with camels for years.
"I believe camels will be very very successful, because they breed out here and you don't actually have to maintain them, they are maintainance-free, and every year the numbers are improving and they are basically free for the community to harvest."
Camels were brought into central Australia by Afghani railway builders and explorers who relied on the hardy animals to travel through the harsh desert.
Most of the camels were released in the mid 1920s, when motor vehicles began operating in the central areas of Australia.
They established free-ranging herds in the semi-arid desert areas of Australia.
Nowadays their descendants are some of the healthiest camels in the world and they range from northern, western and south Australia.
Tourists to central Australia count a camel ride as top of their list of things to do.
"Because we were in Australia and it was one of the things that we had read about, and I wanted to experience it," American tourist Joe Johns said.
However, some wildlife experts are warning that feral camels are harming delicate ecosystems by overgrazing and fouling water holes.
Wild camels cover huge areas of the desert and may outnumber red kangaroos by about 100 to one.
"If camels aren't brought under control and the population growth rate is not brought under control, and the population growth rate isn't reversed then we will be in a situation when the australian deserts, which aren't really true deserts, will eventually become true deserts.
They will become devoid of a lot of vegetation and they won't be places where australian native species can live and survive," Glen Edwards, senior scientist at the Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Services said.
Edwards recommends culling or removal from the desert to keep numbers down.
If the Docker River camel muster proves successful, then this could be one way of reducing the local camel population and also promoting the local economy. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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