The Australian government has announced plans to use helicopters and marksmen to kill 6,000 feral camels in a small northern town. The Saudis have called on wealthy camel-loving citizens to come together and work out a plan to bring the camels to Saudi Arabia. Camels are not native to Australia but were brought from Afghanistan in the 1840s. There are more than a million camels in Australia now and the number is expected to double in the next nine years.
The Australians see the camels as a nuisance competing with sheep and cattle for food. A number of people in Saudi Arabia who raise camels have expressed willingness to receive the Australian camels and put them on special farms in order to sell their milk.