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by Tom Beckers
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Camels in the outback of Australia. Photos and text on the domesticated and wild dromedaries of Australia. Please come back to this page as it is updated frequently. Last update: October 2001 |
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The History of the Australian Camel. Camels figure 150 years in Australian history. The first camel (camelus dromedarius) arrived in 1840 at the Port of Adelaide, South Australia. By 1860 camels arrived by the hundreds, mainly from Afghanistan, to participate in expeditions to explore the dry inland of Australia. Later pack and riding animals were used on the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line, the Canning Stock Route and of major inland railways and fencing in the arid interior. They were used by Afghan camelmen who came with them in the boats and generally worked them in a string with packsaddles. The outback police used them to track people in the desert, Postmen and outback station owners geared up carts. Aborigines, who had never seen or heard of a camel before, became remarkably quick in accepting the camel, Around 1920 the fast progress of the motor vehicle pushed a lot of camels into the wild, released by their owners who couldn't find work for them anymore. They thrived in the bush in which they worked and ate for many generations and multiplied in contradiction with the belief of Afghan camelmen that a camel couldn't copulate without the help of men . Now feral camel population is estimated up to 250.000. The deserts of Australia have the only population of wild dromedaries in the world. |
The hump is a well-placed fat reserve and helps regulate the body temperature in two ways. The concentration of all body fat in the hump makes expelling of heat easier and shields the body
from the heat of the sun. It consists of two bags of elastic tissue which when not filled evenly at the same time become asymmetric and cause a tilted hump.
Camel saddles and blankets stacked up overnight during a safari with eight riding and pack camels.
