Australia’s feral camels roamed free for decades. Now Gulf breeders want them

Australia’s camel population is difficult to count, partly because the animals are scattered across an immense stretch of desert and semi-desert country. Estimates have placed the feral herd anywhere from about 300,000 to one million, depending on the year and the method used to survey it. Their presence is a legacy of a very different Australia, when dromedaries were brought in to carry supplies and equipment across the inland. Once trucks replaced them, many were released and adapted to life in the outback. Now their isolation has taken on an unexpected significance.Australian camels appear to have avoided exposure to MERS, a disease established among camel herds in parts of the Middle East. That history has helped create interest among overseas breeders, even though exporting the animals remains a small and expensive business. The same camels Australia manages as pests may also hold useful breeding value.Australia’s outback is home to one of the world’s largest camel populationsEstimates have varied widely, partly because the animals occupy an enormous area of desert and semi-desert country. As reported by The Pew Charitable Trusts, numbers were estimated at as many as 1 million...