Australia's death-row camels offered Saudi sanctuary

[Cameleer]

Saudi Arabia set to save 1 million pesky Aussie camels

Saudi Arabia intends to shelter some one million Australian camels facing extermination after "authorities down under" ordered the killings of the animals to prevent them from overrunning residential areas, a Saudi Arabian newspaper said on Friday.

The measure was taken by the Australian government last week, after hundreds of camels began overcrowding several residential areas in an attempt to find food and water, Al-Hayat said.

According to the paper, some 6,000 hungry camels recently swarmed Australia's northern community of Docker River, forcing people to barricade themselves inside their homes.

To fight camel invasions, local authorities have been using helicopters to herd them some 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) away from residential areas where they were destroyed. Some 3,000 animals have been killed in the country in the last week, the paper said.

The Australian government allocated 19 million Australian dollars (more than $17 million U.S.) to destroy the million camels roaming the country. The authorities claim camels pose a serious threat to the country's environment.
Camels were brought to Australia from Afghanistan in the late 19th century and were used in constructing railways. The animals were then released into the wild where they began to quickly reproduce.

The news about the killings of camels sparked public indignation in Saudi Arabia. A large-scale campaign was launched on the Internet to save the animals, which are not indigenous to the continent.

A Saudi Arabian agriculture ministry official was quoted by Al-Hayat as saying the country's government had approved the idea of sheltering the Australian camels. However, he said, the question was how to organize the evacuation of camels to the Arabian Penisula and what to do with them once they arrive.

[kjay]

Best news i've read in a long time about the camels in australia. Thanks for the update ! ! !

[bactrian]

That's very impressive. Would be very sad to kill all those animals. I hope there will be a reasonable solution. Thank a lot for the news cameleer

[kjay]

The fact that 3000 have already been killed is despicable! I'm currently writing to every international animal-welfare organization I can think of, although that may be futile at this point. Saudi Arabia is to be commended for its action. For the most part, the Saudis know and understand the significance of the camel. By the way, they're currently producing
camel-milk chocolate. :)

Here's a petition site if you wish to sign:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/australia39s-camel-slaughter

Thank you.

[Patrick]

The fact that 3000 have already been killed is despicable! I'm currently writing to every international animal-welfare organization I can think of, although that may be futile at this point. Saudi Arabia is to be commended for its action. For the most part, the Saudis know and understand the significance of the camel. By the way, they're currently producing
camel-milk chocolate. :)

Here's a petition site if you wish to sign:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/australia39s-camel-slaughter

Thank you.

Well it does stink, but it's a difficult solution, just like our own mustangs. If they were cattle (the mustangs) people wouldn't think twice about rounding them all up and sending them for slaughter, but because people tend to attribute different emotions to different animals, we're stuck with the mustangs which are doing harm to our own environment. The government is spending millions to try to round up small numbers and place them, but more and more they're finding it difficult to do. In fact it did happen with cattle, the once feral Longhorns, and by the late 1800's, most of the feral ones were gone.
Australia has even more problems than the camels. They have feral mustangs (brombies), water buffalo and camels to deal with. I'd love it if they would ship some over here, but who's going to pay for it? When all is said and done, it might be cheaper per animal than the going rate here, but I doubt by a significant amount. As I understand it, Australia has always been hesitant to ship any animals out, even nonnative feral invasives. Don't ask me why, it's government, but when a country like Saudia Arabia comes along, money talks. I wonder what group in the US would try to get together enough money to ship out even 10% of what the Saudis will?

[camel drover]

The fact that 3000 have already been killed is despicable! I'm currently writing to every international animal-welfare organization I can think of, although that may be futile at this point. Saudi Arabia is to be commended for its action. For the most part, the Saudis know and understand the significance of the camel. By the way, they're currently producing
camel-milk chocolate. :)

Here's a petition site if you wish to sign:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/australia39s-camel-slaughter

Thank you.

kjay I'm not picking on you just the concept in general
chinese proverb "be wary what you wish for"

one billion chickens a year!! one hundred thousand cow a day (in the US alone) and God only knows how much Fish and seafood consumed each and every day! Peta's goal is for no one to own A ANIMAL and no one to ever kill one for any thing or any reason! In this country the animal rights SHUT DOWN the slaughter houses for horses! the affect was devastating to the horse industry! I am a Farrier by trade AS MY FATHER AND HIS FATHER BEFORE HIM! my family was affected i know!averge horses went from 2000 dollars to two hundred dollars!! most any FAT "killer" was worth 800 to 1200 on today's market "killers" bring 25 to 75 dollars! that's what happens with feel good legislation! there are thousands of mustangs in concrete holding pens that you and i are paying millions of dollars a year to keep alive because of feel good legislation! i know personally with twelve camels that i have worked diligently to scrape up the money to buy! to accumulate wealth and with plans to capitalize on the sale of future expensive camel babies! i personally do not want the market flooded with 300,ooo worthless camels that have NO training or useful existence except to cripple the US or Saudi market to destroy the price of my good camels making them as useless as the horses that are starving to death because of feel good legislation!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OR POSSIBALLY IM WRONG AND THIS WAAS ALL JUST A BAD DREAM! AND THE RABBIT WASN'T LATE AND ALICE REALY DIDN'T FALL DOWN THE WHOLE AND THE MAD HATTER WASNT WASNT STRUNG OUT ON HERROWIN AND WE WILL ALL ACHIEVE WORLD PEACE McDONALDS WONT MAKE YOU FAT! IN CLOSING IN THE WORDS OF CHEVY CHASE "HALALUYA, HOLY SH..T WHERES THE TYLONAL"!!!!! s
PS. kjay i wasnt after you! its the patishion for feel good legislation all over the world! "reality what a concept" another GREAT Quote "just because you can does not mean you SHOULD" S.

[Cameleer]

Camel Drover, now you ruined my day and I had to look up the animal slaughtered numbers along with a few other things.

In the United States, around ten billon animals are slaughtered every year in 5,700 slaughterhouses and processing plants employing 527,000 workers; in 2007, 28.1 billion pounds of beef were consumed in the U.S. alone.
In Canada, 650 million are killed annually.
In the European Union, the annual figure is 300 million cattle, sheep, and pigs, and four billion chickens.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnIUjU-zjrQ

Camel Drover, do you think in Middle East where they want to send these camels and were camel meat is considered a tasty delicacy they would really eat these poor rescued camels?
I remember someone saying camel meat tastes like beef and it's also a lot more healthy for you.

Here's something else I found on the internet:

It's the newest culinary rage in Saudi Arabia: camel burgers. Three Saudi brothers introduced the new burger to the desert kingdom and they say it's been a hit since day one.

The brothers say that business was slow at their restaurant before they introduced the camel burger, but now people are coming from all parts of the kingdom to try the new culinary delight.

Specialties such as camel liver have long been on the menu of upmarket restaurants in the Gulf Arab state, but the experiment with baby camel burgers has met with enthusiasm in a country where the camel is a symbol of nomadic traditions.

"The idea was to invent something new. It is about the love of Saudi people for camel meat," said Saleh Quwaisi, one of the owners of the Local Hashi Meals restaurant in the capital Riyadh which plans to open a second branch soon and considers to expand further.

Walid Sanchez, managing director of sufraiti.com, a popular Saudi online dining directory, sees a huge market for camel burgers as Saudis like to try out new menus and appreciate the quality of locally made meat.

Some experts also say camel meat is healthy because it is low in fat. "People like camel meat but no one experimented with camel burgers before...I think it will be a popular thing, it will definitely take off" said Sanchez.

Customers visiting the packed restaurant in Riyadh on a weekend night agreed. "I'm frankly trying it for the first time and I really like it," said Mohammad Naghi. "It doesn't have much fat, it's light and has a delicate taste," he said as he chewed away.

[camel drover]

:notworthy my deepest and most heart felt apology to you our fearless leader of the camel forum!!!!! (do i know how to suck up or what)! i new better than just spout out some numbers with out doing a google search (chickens killed ,cows k... ETC...) and as for the horses its so sad! We were at a horse sale and a trailer with two nice horses pulled up and unloaded ! when they ask the owner "who's name " he said and i quote "any da..n bodies you want to" and got in his truck and drove off! I was standing there when it happened! In TX i was told they charge you 50 dollars (must be paid first before you can unload) to sell a donkey at auction!the state of Ga has a moratorium on picking up "abused horses" because they cant feed them ether!!!! according to our state inspector??? That is SAD and ruins my day but it is the reality of the world we live in! The up side is sence no one is breeding them any more as they die off, the ones left will have some value as a novilty item and there price will skyrockt! All kidding aside on the first post i thought about just writing one sentence but i thought i would try and be more sensitive and reasonable than to say "P A R T Y party Party BAR BQ, BREAK OUT THE BEER! because that's exactly what the saudis are going to do!!!! In closing with deepest respect and admiration I am S. "reality what a concept"
Postscipt ill just bet that video will make your home prices PLUMET
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnIUjU-zjrQ&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yiK0DQPPwg&NR=1

[camel drover]

this a news clip with some camels in the middle of it, with tribial packs on the camels out of africa S.
http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/17772638#video=17772244

[kjay]

Quotes by Mahatma Gandhi:

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

"To my mind the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body. I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to the protection by man from the cruelty of man."

“I do feel that spiritual progress does demand at some stage that we should cease to kill our fellow creatures for the satisfaction of our bodily wants.”

[camel drover]

Quotes by Mahatma Gandhi:

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

"To my mind the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body. I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to the protection by man from the cruelty of man."

“I do feel that spiritual progress does demand at some stage that we should cease to kill our fellow creatures for the satisfaction of our bodily wants.”

Kjay if you came up with this off the cuff :notworthy and not quoting some one else! It almost made me want to become a vegetarian! that was some good stuff! I will"paraphrasing a well published book" And the lord said load all animals that walk or crawl upon the earth, on the ark two by two except the clean animals that you eat and sacrifice, load them by seven! then close the door so that all those man or beast not on the ark shall perish or something like that! so i just cant quite make the jump to be a veggie but i do want to give CREDIT where CREDIT is due that was some GOOD stuff and well written cheers :) S.

i just two seconds ago seen it was gahndi who wrote those great words of wisdom!!!!! i bet he didnt use the same book as us back woods countryboys were raised with! S.

[Patrick]

i know personally with twelve camels that i have worked diligently to scrape up the money to buy! to accumulate wealth and with plans to capitalize on the sale of future expensive camel babies! i personally do not want the market flooded with 300,ooo worthless camels that have NO training or useful existence except to cripple the US or Saudi market to destroy the price of my good camels making them as useless as the horses that are starving to death because of feel good legislation

I doubt that we'd go for 300,000, but don't you think that a thousand or so would actually stimulate the industry? Or is it really that small? I see your point about affecting your market, but even with these thousands of mustangs, smart horse breeders and trainers still have a market for their animals and services. I bet that someone like you could make short work of a lot of these animals, and turn them over, well trained, to individuals who, like many individual horse owners, wouldn't even consider breeding.

[camel drover]

I doubt that we'd go for 300,000, but don't you think that a thousand or so would actually stimulate the industry? Or is it really that small? I see your point about affecting your market, but even with these thousands of mustangs, smart horse breeders and trainers still have a market for their animals and services. I bet that someone like you could make short work of a lot of these animals, and turn them over, well trained, to individuals who, like many individual horse owners, wouldn't even consider breeding.

yes Patrick with only a few hundred camel it would be a trimmer thru the camel community! a thousand or so would be a Quake of some magnitude be cause the camel world is a small and fragile community loosely woven together! look at active members here on this forum, and this is the best BAR-NUN forum on the Net!!!average life span on here is 4 months (i think) I'm an ole fart at nearly a year! i looked at JOIN DATES and last active dates and run the numbers in my head (its what i do #ers guy i am )! my friend sent six ride camels to Jamaica! one camel was mine "moses" if it were not for finding me and Moses last minute they were going to be short one camel this was how my now friend and i met! and he is connected with "MR CAMEL HIMSELF" i don't want to name names here but when camels were mentioned these folks are the ones to know10 to 15 years ago and even today! and they had a hard time coming up with only six camels to take out of the country there are only eight (8) people that legally own camels in the state of Ga! Yes it is a small world in Camellot every one knows every one if you do any thing with your camels! the logistics of trying to save one million camels is the root behind the other comments on this thread with the feel good legislation that goes with it, that never EXPIRES!! there are only so many zoo's to do rides so many rodeo and parades if i found out they were going to bring over 5 to 10 thousand camels i would dump my camels except the few i needed to pull off my rides at the first opportunity to get out think GREAT DEPRESSION!!! then buy back cheap and try to re build if applicable! look up Alan savoys book on holistic resource management "decisions made with the heart and not the head WILL BANKRUPT Y O U" just something to think about Scott
post script long story short!!! yes im a surviver and i would look at it a busness opertunity! i'de rather be lucky than good has always been our Almamta S.

[bigjohn]

I've been watching this site for a long time. I like what this site does for the camel people out there, so I'm sending my first post. If they brought about 1000 camels over here it might be good thing. It will bring down the prices on camels, but it will create jobs, more camel trekking in the desert and new ones in the mountains on special trails. How about more camel rides at public zoos or events. Camel trainers out there, you guys would be so busy you would be turning jobs away. Camel racing might grow so big that your racing camel might be worth $100,000 or even a million. Camel jockys and back to the camel trainers = JOBS. Cameldrover you said "I am a Farrier by trade AS MY FATHER AND HIS FATHER BEFORE HIM!" and you also said "worthless camels that have NO training". Are you a horse trader or a camel trainer because if I were a camel trainer I would love the challenge of tackleing that job. You also said "if i found out they were going to bring over 5 to 10 thousand camels i would dump my camels except the few i needed to pull off my rides at the first opportunity ". Man that sounds like a little horse trading to me and also let someone else loose money. I have, at last count, around 38 camels. I just could not do that to people. You loose some and you win some. Also about your friend that couldn't find his 6th camel. There are ride camels for sale all over the USA if you are willing to pay for a good one. Sounds like he wanted a cheaper one. If you guys are in need of a camel trainer check these guys out they are pros. Warrick Bergroth at www.walkaboutcamels.com, Gumby Michels at www.ridecamels.com, and Micah Williams at www.mwanimalattractions.com. Thanks, J.Mercer

[camel drover]

I've been watching this site for a long time. I like what this site does for the camel people out there, so I'm sending my first post. If they brought about 1000 camels over here it might be good thing. It will bring down the prices on camels, but it will create jobs, more camel trekking in the desert and new ones in the mountains on special trails. How about more camel rides at public zoos or events. Camel trainers out there, you guys would be so busy you would be turning jobs away. Camel racing might grow so big that your racing camel might be worth $100,000 or even a million. Camel jockys and back to the camel trainers = JOBS. Cameldrover you said "I am a Farrier by trade AS MY FATHER AND HIS FATHER BEFORE HIM!" and you also said "worthless camels that have NO training". Are you a horse trader or a camel trainer because if I were a camel trainer I would love the challenge of tackleing that job. You also said "if i found out they were going to bring over 5 to 10 thousand camels i would dump my camels except the few i needed to pull off my rides at the first opportunity ". Man that sounds like a little horse trading to me and also let someone else loose money. I have, at last count, around 38 camels. I just could not do that to people. You loose some and you win some. Also about your friend that couldn't find his 6th camel. There are ride camels for sale all over the USA if you are willing to pay for a good one. Sounds like he wanted a cheaper one. If you guys are in need of a camel trainer check these guys out they are pros. Warrick Bergroth at www.walkaboutcamels.com, Gumby Michels at www.ridecamels.com, and Micah Williams at www.mwanimalattractions.com. Thanks, J.Mercer
you are correct!!!! i do not know personally all those men, but i have eaten dinner at some of those men's homes and call them friend and some have forgotten more than i will ever know! as i am sure you have some type of relationship with them to have such a strong opinion of them in any case you are correct! on the other stuff! lets do a little math you said you have 38 came???? i assume most are COWS last sale i was at camel at lollies sold on average 8500 to 9000! lets say 8 just to be fair! and i am making up your numbers,just because i don't know you! 1 bull ten ride camel(good ride camel X 8000 i would not take ten for mine) and 27 cows! average them all at 8000$ that comes out at a grand total of $304,000. oo that's a pretty good little nest egg for the future ide think! now then PRETEND GLOBAL WORMING. ausi camels or what ever! just made your camels go on the 50%off rack! that equals 152,000 dollars in a matter of days because the news said WE THE PEOPLE OF THIS GREAT NATION ARE going to save those camels in the down under! please tell me that if you got wend they were going to bring in the second wave of camels in three months and you new from the first 152 thousand dollars you lost that your camels were going to 38,000 (a thousand dollars each or less)dollars you would not try to sell out before they did! if not you are a much tougher man than me! oh yes we forgot to average those babies of the 28 cows that (ill bet is closer to 35) 28 baby's every two years (some cows breed right back some don't) that's 98000 if they bring on average 3500 (heifer calves 4500 to 6500) that will make the numbers change my friend!!! what do you do with all those babies??? unless they are all geldings and or pets??? sell them??? (horse trader implied properly is such a dirty word! TRA..... what! i under stand i sell one or two calves every two years my self!!) Just a little other food for thought i have five camels and 4 zebras in one small pasture. we will just say 10 camels for arguments sake !one bale of hay, two days it was gone it and the 50# a day! i feed one 5x5 bale of hay 20.00 (and i have pd 60) 50# of feed say 5.00 and that's cheap it just makes the math easier for a simple boy like me:) that's 30 dollars in two days or 15 dollers a day times 365 = 5475.oo X 4= 21,900 dollars a year to feed your camels (i love round #) in closing one day i truly hope to be in the position to own the amount of land you must have to own 38 camels,wish to have 38 or 50 camel with a market to support that life style! As i stand here in admiration i hope you and your camels fair well, your market hold high and all your plans go as planed respectfully i am Scott Allen OWNER of a small and humble camel co.!Pettit Creek Farms Camel Co. and www.camelsaddlesforsale.com !!! I only wishing to be in the shadow of you and the men you have mentioned, because in the full light of Greatness many men melt ( i made that up myself) i do not know if i would measure up to the status of professional (pro)camel trainer I only have what I am! Scott Allen owner of twelve camels and many fond memories of them


Postscipt if the gentalmen that was discruntal about the camel pad is following this post (he told me, he did)! so sorry the camel pads went up and i have updated the web site some!!!!!!!! to all others reading this post! if it wasn't you! you have no idea what I'm rambling about so you should not be offended or mad because it does not apply to you! or implied about you! best regaurds S.

[Patrick]

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/20100201155144/Article/index_html

[Patrick]

I've been watching this site for a long time. I like what this site does for the camel people out there, so I'm sending my first post. If they brought about 1000 camels over here it might be good thing. It will bring down the prices on camels, but it will create jobs, more camel trekking in the desert and new ones in the mountains on special trails. How about more camel rides at public zoos or events. Camel trainers out there, you guys would be so busy you would be turning jobs away. Camel racing might grow so big that your racing camel might be worth $100,000 or even a million. Camel jockys and back to the camel trainers = JOBS. Cameldrover you said "I am a Farrier by trade AS MY FATHER AND HIS FATHER BEFORE HIM!" and you also said "worthless camels that have NO training". Are you a horse trader or a camel trainer because if I were a camel trainer I would love the challenge of tackleing that job. You also said "if i found out they were going to bring over 5 to 10 thousand camels i would dump my camels except the few i needed to pull off my rides at the first opportunity ". Man that sounds like a little horse trading to me and also let someone else loose money. I have, at last count, around 38 camels. I just could not do that to people. You loose some and you win some. Also about your friend that couldn't find his 6th camel. There are ride camels for sale all over the USA if you are willing to pay for a good one. Sounds like he wanted a cheaper one. If you guys are in need of a camel trainer check these guys out they are pros. Warrick Bergroth at www.walkaboutcamels.com, Gumby Michels at www.ridecamels.com, and Micah Williams at www.mwanimalattractions.com. Thanks, J.Mercer

All this has gotten me to thinking. Why haven't the camel people organized yet to form a national association to promote the industry? The reindeer people seem to have it all together, and they have a national meeting every year where there is a great exchange of information. From the outside looking in, it seems to me that the camel people, despite a loose network, seem by and large to be each guy out on his his own. Or am I wrong?
Does anyone have any estimate on how many breeders and how many camels we have in the US?

[camel drover]

this is just something i found on this fine sunday morning in the south
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1055&context=nwrcinvasive