
Australia will have snipers shoot thousands of camels to conserve water - happy-go-lucky
https://nypost.com/2020/01/07/australia-will-have-snipers-in-helicopters-shoot-thousands-of-camels-to-conserve-water/
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bruce_one
Feral animals do a lot of damage; and the article alludes to more than just
water being the reason for the cull.

> A recent feral-camel-population boom is exacerbating the need for water,
> threatening damage to infrastructure and putting communities in Anangu
> Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, an Aboriginal district, at risk, according
> to South Australia’s Department for Environment and Water.

In Victoria, I've heard estimates that there are 1.5 million feral deer in the
Alpine National Park (this article talks about a million plus
[https://vnpa.org.au/dealing-with-deer/](https://vnpa.org.au/dealing-with-
deer/), I heard the 1.5 million verbally as a Parks Victoria estimate).

I can't speak for the camels in particular, but these feral animals don't
belong in these habitats and are causing damage that causes issues for native
wildlife, and apparently other issues.

That makes me sad; but I also know destroying/killing/culling animals is often
not well perceived. It feels like a very tough problem to solve in a way that
keeps everyone happy.

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rezgi
Nevermind the humans who use far more than 30 gallons of water a day.
According to this page[0], Australians used 554 gallons/day/capita in
2004-2005.

One human requires as much water as 19 Australian camels...

[0]:
[https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject...](https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/1370.0~2010~Chapter~Water%20consumption%20per%20person%20\(6.3.3\))

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lioeters
They plan to kill ~5,000 camels, which consume an average of 30 gallons of
water per day, that comes out to about 150K gallons per day.

With 22 million Australians, if they reduce their daily water consumption by
0.0068 gallons, these camels would have enough to drink and be allowed to
live.

~~~
patrec
The camels and their water consumption impact are not uniformly distributed
throughout Australia. And since they are considered an invasive species,
allowing them to live presumably isn't considered a top priority.

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rasz
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War)
spoiler: Australia lost that one.

