12 Sexy Camels Kicked Out of Beauty Contest for Using Botox

By Rafi Letzter, Staff Writer | January 23, 2018 06:07pm ET

What do Megyn Kelly and Saudi Arabia's King Abdulaziz Camel Festival have in common? It turns out, both the morning-show host and the organizers of this hoofed-animal parade have a habit of worrying about other beings' plastic-surgery habits.

Officials with the King Abdulaziz festival kicked out a dozen camels from a camel beauty contest for receiving Botox injections, according to a report published today (Jan. 23) in The National, an Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates-based newspaper.

More than 30,000 camels and 300,000 human visitors showed up for the second annual King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, which runs from Jan. 1to Feb. 1 this year, The National reported. And the top spot of that horde of humped herbivores is worth a pretty penny: This year's prize money totals $57 million, with $31.8 million set aside for awards for "pageantry." [Why Do Camels Have Humps?]

Read on  

Humans caught the common cold from camels, scientists discover

Experts warn the success of the cold virus in spreading across the world shows the potential for a pandemic by the deadly MERS virus, which also came from camels

Ian Johnston Science Correspondent 

Friday 19 August 2016

The first human to catch a cold appears to have got it from a camel, according to new research.

It means the common cold originates from the same animal as the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, known as MERS.

Researchers at the University Hospital of Bonn in Germany had been investigating MERS when they made the unexpected discovery.

Professor Christian Drosten, one of the team, said: “In our MERS investigations, we examined about 1,000 camels for coronaviruses and were surprised to find pathogens that are related to ‘HCoV-229E’, the human common cold virus, in almost six per cent of the cases."

The scientists took samples of the camels’ cold viruses and discovered that they were capable of infecting humans, according to a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

But tests showed there was no apparent danger of a new cold epidemic because our immune system was already primed against it by the human version of the disease.

A number of human diseases are thought to have initially infected other animals before mutating genetically by chance to give them characteristics that enable them to infect humans.

Influenza, for example, is thought to have made the jump from birds to humans several times in the past. The initial outbreaks can be severe because humans may not have any immunity. The so-called Spanish flu pandemic in 1918 is estimated to have killed three to five per cent of the world’s population.

Continued  

Juvenile camels 'key source' of Mers

By Jonathan BallBBC News

12 June 2015 

From the sectionScience & Environment

Mers is an emerging human infection, so scientists want to untangle the dynamics of the virus in camels

Camels aged less than four years might be a major source of Mers, according to new research.

An international team looked for evidence of current or past infection in more than 800 dromedary camels.

They found that more than 90% of animals became infected by the age of two and virus shedding was more common in calves than in adults.

The scientists argue that changes in animal husbandry may reduce the occurrence of human Mers infections.

The study is published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

The first reports of human Mers coronavirus infection emerged in June 2012, although cases are likely to have occurred before then.

More than 1,100 cases have been recorded and more than 400 people have died. Infections have been seen in 25 countries across Europe, Asia and Africa, but Saudi Arabia has experienced the biggest burden.

Read on ...

Evidence that an Influenza A virus can jump from horses to camels

Date:

June 24, 2014

Source:

University of Florida

Summary:

Evidence that an influenza A virus can jump from horses to camels has been found by scientists – and humans could be next. “Over the last 10 years, we’ve been amazed at all the cross-species jumps of influenza. Now we’re finding yet another,” said one researcher. Although there is no immediate risk, the inter-mammalian transmission of the virus is a major concern for public health researchers interested in controlling the threat of pandemic influenza.

Continued

Mers virus: Saudis warned to wear masks near camels

Saudi Arabia has urged its citizens to wear masks and gloves when dealing with camels so as to avoid spreading the deadly Mers virus.

The agriculture ministry advised people not to come into contact with camels unless necessary and to wash their hands if they did.

Saudia Arabia is the country by far most affected by Mers, with 133 deaths since the virus was detected in 2012.

Nearly 500 people in the kingdom have been infected.

Mers is part of a large family of viruses

Mers - Middle East respiratory syndrome - has also spread to other countries in the Middle East.

The disease is a coronavirus, a large family of viruses that also includes the common cold and Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome). It causes fever, pneumonia and kidney failure.

"It is advisable to wear protective gloves, especially when dealing with births or sick or dead (camels)," the agriculture ministry said in a statement.

It suggested boiling camel milk and only eating cooked camel meat.

Read on

Finding Israel's first camels: Archaeologists pinpoint the date when domesticated camels arrived in Israel

Date: February 3, 2014

Source: American Friends of Tel Aviv University

Summary: Using radiocarbon dating, archaeologists can pinpoint the moment when domesticated camels arrived in the southern Levant. Their findings further emphasize the disagreements between Biblical texts and verifiable history, and define a turning point in Israel's engagement with the rest of the world.

Continued

Camels May Be Link to Deadly MERS Virus

A potential source of the new Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) virus has been identified: camels may be a carrier of the virus, according to a new study.

Blood tests of 50 dromedary (one hump) camels in Oman, a country in the Arabian peninsula, found that all had developed antibodies against the MERS virus, a sign that the camels may have been infected in the past with the MERS virus, or a very similar one, the researchers said. However, the actual virus was not found in the animals.

“These new results suggest that dromedary camels may be one reservoir of the virus that is causing [MERS infection] in humans,” the study researchers, from National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in Bilthoven, the Netherlands, said in a statement. “Dromedary camels are a popular animal species in the Middle East, where they are used for racing, and also for meat and milk, so there are different types of contact of humans with these animals that could lead to transmission of a virus,” the researchers said.

Continued

Giant camel fossil found in Arctic

By Rebecca Morelle, Science reporter, BBC World Service

Camels are well known for their ability to survive the hot and dry conditions of the desert, but a study suggests they once thrived in colder climes.

Scientists have unearthed the fossilised remains of a giant species of camel in Canada's High Arctic.

An analysis of protein found in the bones has revealed that this creature, which lived about 3.5 million years ago, is an ancestor of today's species.

The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.

Dr Mike Buckley, an author of the paper from the University of Manchester, said: "What's interesting about this story is the location: this is the northernmost evidence of camels."

Cold conditions

The mid-Pliocene Epoch was a warm period of the Earth's history - but surviving in the Arctic would have still been tough.

The ancient camels would have had to cope with long and harsh winters, with temperatures plunging well below freezing. There would have been snow storms and months of perpetual darkness.

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21673940

Cull and drought hit feral camels

Numbers of wild camels in Australia have dropped by a quarter in recent years because of drought and culling, a wildlife survey shows.

The camel population was estimated at one million a few years ago, but the body tasked with controlling the animals says it has fallen to 750,000.

Introduced in the 1800s, the camels now form the world's biggest wild herd.

But the camels cause significant environmental damage, and in 2010, the government endorsed a control plan.

The Australian Feral Camel Management Project (AFCMP) aims to reduce camel densities through culling and mustering the animals for sale.

With few natural predators and vast sparsely-populated areas in which to roam, feral camels have put pressure on native Australian species by reducing food sources and destroying habitat.

"Between 2001 and 2008, it was estimated that there could have been as many as a million feral camels in the outback," said Jan Ferguson, from the not-for-profit company Ninti One, which manages the AFCMP.

"Since then, however, there has been a major drought, the feral camel management programme has come into effect and population survey techniques have been improved."

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18970585

Family rides a camel when they need to nip out for the groceries

Mothers at the school gate are so used to spotting their neighbour turning up on one of the desert beasts they barely bat an eyelid. 

Mrs Fossett, her circus-raised husband Joseph and their children Daisy, 13, and Leo, ten, are Britain’s only owners of a herd of camels. 

‘We go out in public on them once or twice a week and people love seeing them,’ said Mrs Fossett, 42. 

‘People think camels are grumpy and spit all the time but that couldn’t be  further from the truth. They are great company and very affectionate. 

‘They’re also incredibly nosy and rush to the garden gates to have a look whenever anyone goes past, so they enjoy  being out and interacting with people.’ 

At £10,000 each, the six dromedary and Bactrian camels – named Ruby,  Sahara, Sophia, Kokoso, Kazak and Veneta – certainly don’t come cheap. 

But the Fossetts have turned them into a thriving business. taking customers on countryside treks from their tree-lined village of Idlicote, in Warwickshire. 

Given the camels’ background, there’s one place they seem to particularly enjoy visiting. 

‘They love the beach,’ said Mr Fossett, 52. ‘As soon as they get the sand  between their toes you can see they  instantly feel at home.’

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/902875-family-rides-a-camel-when-they-need-to-nip-out-for-the-groceries#ixzz1yoFeNv8j

Two New Extinct Camel Species Discovered at Panama Canal Excavation

ScienceDaily (Feb. 29, 2012) — The discovery of two new extinct camel species by University of Florida scientists sheds new light on the history of the tropics, a region containing more than half the world's biodiversity and some of its most important ecosystems.

Appearing online this week in theJournal of Vertebrate Paleontology, the study is the first published description of a fossil mammal discovered as part of an international project in Panama. Funded with a grant from the National Science Foundation, UF paleontologists and geologists are working with the Panama Canal Authority and scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute to make the most of a five-year window of excavations during Panama Canal expansions that began in 2009.

The discovery by Florida Museum of Natural History researchers extends the distribution of mammals to their southernmost point in the ancient tropics of Central America. The tropics contain some of the world's most important ecosystems, including rain forests that regulate climate systems and serve as a vital source of food and medicine, yet little is known of their history because lush vegetation prevents paleontological excavations.

Read on:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120229121127.htm

Camels 'left to rot' after mass cull

The owner of a Central Australian cattle station is angry that camel carcasses have been left to rot after recent culls.

Ian Conway runs Kings Creek Station near where 5,000 camels have been shot from helicopters in the past fortnight.

Mr Conway has acknowledged that camel numbers need to be cut because of the significant ecological and pastoral damage the animals cause.

But he says previous culls have shown it is cruel to shoot them and leave them to rot.

"We've been along and seen where camels have kicked for 20 minutes, half an hour, a couple of hours in some instances, still alive," he said.

"All that did was increase the population of dingoes around Docker River and blowflies.

"And the stench around the country was unbelievable. I spoke to many Aboriginal men who said they'd left the country because it was too rotten to stay there for up to six months."

Mr Conway says camels should be taken to an abattoir in Caboolture in south-east Queensland for meat rather than left on the ground.

"If they were caught, even if half of them were caught, that's revenue for people in the Territory," he said.

"In Caboolture they'll take as many as we possibly can get. They'll actually send the trucks over to pick them up and pay you at the doorstep - $220 a head."

Northern Territory Chief Minister Paul Henderson says he will investigate the claims.

"That should absolutely be done humanely, and I don't know where those reports are coming from, but we'll certainly look into them," he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-09/culls-leave-camels-to-rot/3656018

Construction crews unearth fossil 'treasure trove'

A Riverside County site yields camels, llamas, horses and saber-toothed cats, some well over 1 million years old.

By Thomas H. Maugh II and Amina Khan Los Angeles Times

September 21, 2010

It happened more than a million years ago, but the fossilized evidence preserved the scene. A horse not much different from modern horses was enjoying a cool drink at a watering hole in what is now San Timoteo Canyon when a saber-toothed cat sneaked up and grabbed it by the haunch.

After finishing its meal, the cat left the skeleton to be buried in mud from flash floods. That cat, or one very like it, eventually also ended up dead and its skeleton joined the horse's in the accumulating sediment.

And then, 1.4 million years later, Southern California Edison crews constructing a new substation for the growing population of Riverside County unearthed the horse — tooth marks still distinct on its leg — the cat and a "treasure trove" of fossils.

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Excavation at the site has so far revealed what may be California's oldest example of the saber-toothed cat Smilodon gracilis, a specimen more than a million years older than the Smilodon fatalis from the La Brea tar pits, which carry an array of fossils dating to as recently as 9,000 years ago.

Scientists so far have identified more than 1,450 specimens, including about 250 large vertebrate fossils and more than 1,220 fossils that are rabbit-size or smaller.

"And we're still counting," said paleontologist Robert Reynolds of LSA Associates of Riverside, the consulting paleontologists who are handling the dig for Southern California Edison.

Other specimens include llamas, horses and deer and more saber-toothed cats, some rare and others previously unknown. There is one of the earliest examples of a giant ground sloth and many of the fossils are in a remarkably well-preserved state, Reynolds said.

Smaller animals include meadow mice, gophers and kangaroo rats. Some of the remains are found in fossilized excreta, indicating that owls or hawks were hunting in nearby areas, then flying in and depositing the remains of their dinner on the site.

Researchers have also found remains of birch, pine, sycamore, oak, willows and cottonwoods, as well as cattails and horsetails.

"I've been working in this area for more than 40 years and have never seen concentrations of fossils like this," Reynolds said. So far, he said, the team has found more than 30 different species.

The fossils sharply increase the number of specimens available from what is known as the Irvingtonian North American Land Mammal Age, which stretches from about 1.9 million years ago to 250,000 years ago.

The find is also of great interest to geologists who have been attempting to deduce the history of the San Jacinto fault, a major fault that parallels the better-known San Andreas. Because the fossils were located in once-flat land that has been formed into a hill by a succession of earthquakes along the San Jacinto fault, the age of the fossils found there provides a measure of when activity on that fault began, said geologist Jonathan C. Matti of the U.S. Geological Survey.

Comparison of the fossils with those from other sites revealed their age. That allowed scientists to deduce that the earthquakes caused by the San Jacinto fault that raised the land into hills had to be more recent than 1.4 million years ago.

"Anytime you get indicators … of how old rocks are, a geologist is filled with joy," Matti said. The new find suggests that the average slip rate along the fault is substantially greater than geologists had previously believed. That, in turn, suggests a potential for larger earthquakes linked to it.

"I'm really glad" that state law requires companies to perform such studies at construction sites, Matti added.

Southern California Edison has a team of 70 biologists, paleontologists and other scientists who monitor construction sites specifically for artifacts. The team suspected that fossils might be present because paleontologist L. Barry Albright III, formerly a graduate student at UC Riverside and now on the faculty of the University of North Florida, had discovered fossils of the same age in similar rock formation elsewhere in the San Timoteo badlands. He found only a few species, however.

Doug Morton, a UC Riverside geologist who has mapped the area, said the find surprised him. "If somebody had asked me ahead of time what they would encounter, I would have said 'damn little,' " he said.

Reynolds said few people know about the find and the team will probably not begin publishing its results until next April.

"This sounds like a very nice, diverse assemblage that has the potential to provide some very interesting information," said Dr. John Harris, chief curator of the Page Museum at the La Brea tar pits, who has not seen the fossils. "They will be an important addition" to existing collections, he added.

On Monday afternoon, researchers at LSA were gathered around a long table cleaning up some of the finds. Paleontologist Carl Bennett, a tattooed, mustachioed paleontologist, was hunched over a sloth skull as long as his forearm, using a whining needle-like tool to clear away a layer of dirt. The skull is "the best ground sloth west of Texas of this age," Reynolds said.

Nearby, Reynolds was washing down sandstone particles removed from larger bones to look for smaller rodents' teeth, insects and other tiny artifacts that can provide valuable insight into climate at the site. He pointed to pinkish, fingertip-size fossils of sloth skin armor among the detritus.

Michael Stokes, a preparator, gestured at the stone-encased remains of a horse that he said "looked like somebody had walked right through it." Many people believe skeletons like those of dinosaurs are laid out the way they died, he said, "but that's not the way we find them in real life."

Once the scientists have finished with them, the fossils will be transferred to the Western Science Center in Hemet for public display. That will probably happen late next year.

Excavation is complete at the site and the substation will open by the middle of next year. Paleontologists suspect there may be more fossils in undisturbed areas adjacent to the site, but so far, no one is looking.

thomas.maugh@latimes.com

amina.khan@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-fossils-20100921,0,3128425.story
(Submitted by Leslie Jones)

Crocs Hungry for Outback Camels (Via HerpDigest)

Crocs Hungry for Outback Camels (Australia)
North Queensland Register, 9/11/10
WILD camels from central Australia could be killed and fed to crocodiles under a new commercial agreement.

Australia's million-strong camel population is expected to double within the decade. Government-sanctioned culls were carried out at the end of last year to cut down the herd and provide relief for residents in remote communities overwhelmed by the thirsty animals. Arnhem Meats is about to begin harvesting camels around the Docker River area, near the epicentre of the enormous camel population.

The company's Tracker Tilmouth says the meat could be supplied to Top End animal farms. "They'll definitely be able to supply camels to the crocodile farms," he said. "Exactly how much they want and when they want it is another thing." Mr Tilmouth says there are lots of other uses for the camel.

"If we can get camels to an abattoir, there's definitely a market for hides and for the hump," Mr Tilmouth said. "The hump can be used for cosmetics because it's all fat and it will be rendered into tallow. "So there's a whole range of offtakes that has to be considered in relation to camels." The project will train local Aboriginal people and is expected to harvest up to 300 camels per week.
_______________________________________________________________

Canada zoo appeals for stolen tiger and camels

A zoo in Canada has pleaded for the safe return of a tiger and two camels that were stolen in transit last week.

Bowmanville Zoo, in Ontario, has even offered $2,000 (£1,325) for a picture of the animals being given water.

A $20,000 reward offered since Saturday has failed to produce any leads on the whereabouts of Jonas, a Bengal tiger, and camels Todd and Shawn.

They were in a trailer being moved from Nova Scotia to the zoo when their vehicle was stolen near Montreal.

The Ford truck hauling the trailer was found abandoned in Quebec early on Saturday.

Friendly animals

"If they haven't received any water their situation is dire," said the director of Bowmanville Zoo, Michael Hackenberger.

The 160-kg Jonas was in danger of suffering kidney failure if he had not had anything to drink since he was stolen on Friday.

Police believe it was an "opportunity crime", with the thieves being unaware what the cargo was.

"This was a crime of opportunity and now they have something they don't know how to deal with, and we are trying to make this as easy as possible to get out from underneath this," Mr Hackenberger said.

"That's a direct appeal to the captors."

He said all three animals were trained and friendly.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/us_and_canada/10372036.stm

Car Thieves Steal Jonas The Tiger And Two Camels

THE police in Canada – the Sureté du Québec – are looking for a stolen trailer containing a tiger and two camels.

The beasts were on a trip from Bowmanville Zoo when the drivers stopped for a break. The trailer was stolen.

For any trailer thieves tuning in, the camels answer to the traditional names Sean and Todd, and the tiger is called Jonas.

Should the thieves not be animal lovers, the tiger is the one who likes tummy rubs…

http://www.anorak.co.uk/251400/strange-but-true/car-thieves-steal-jonas-the-tiger-and-two-camels.html

Llamas act as bouncers for chicks at Merseyside reserve

Tuesday, 27 April 2010 07:42 UK

Llamas have been drafted in to protect eggs and chicks of wading birds at a Merseyside nature park.

The two highly territorial camelids, called Willy and Jack, are being used to scare off predators at the Marshside reserve in Southport.

Recruited by the RSPB, the South American creatures are known for their aggressive behaviour when threatened.

Graham Clarkson, RSPB Marshside warden, hopes the llamas will keep animals such as foxes at bay.

He said: "Llamas are territorial and should chase away animals like foxes that can eat lapwing and redshank eggs and chicks.

"We hope it will make a difference to how successful the birds are this year.

"It is particularly important that they do well as the populations of these breeding birds are threatened in the UK, so we will be monitoring the outcome of this experiment carefully."

It is hoped their slightly erratic behaviour, along with the groaning noises and the sound they make when afraid or angry, will be a deterrent. They are also known to spit at and attack each other when provoked, but are gentle creatures when calm.

Lapwing and redshank birds, which nest at Marshside, are among those under threat in the UK.

The llama and its relative the alpaca are already used as livestock guards to protect lambs and sheep from predators.

The Prince of Wales uses alpacas to protect his lambs from foxes during lambing season at Highgrove, his Gloucestershire estate.

Local grazier Gill Baker, who provides the cattle to graze the marsh, said: "The 'boys' are a great hit with locals and visitors to the reserve.

"They will hopefully do a great job looking after the birds and can live quite harmoniously with the cows there."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/8645757.stm
(Sumitted by Liz R)

Camel-drawn solar van passes through Alice

13 January 2010

Alice Springs residents have been treated to an unusual sight - a camel-drawn, solar-powered mini-van travelling along the Todd River.

Only a trickle is left in the river, whcih began flowing for the first time in a year last Thursday, and peaked at 2.85 metres at the weekend.

Klaus Menzel, 61, has been on the road with his camels Snowy and Willy for eight years and says he is enjoying the desert's wet conditions.

"It is good to have but it is hard to pull through," he said.

"Willy was with me over at Camels Corner but then Snowy his partner came from Queensland.

"We walked 14 wild ones up to Queensland and as a reward I got these two fellas and they been pulling me around ever since."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/13/2791504.htm

Will Britons Lap Up Creamy Camel Milk?

11:13am UK, Thursday December 31, 2009

Ashish Joshi, Gulf correspondent

Camel milk could soon be on supermarket shelves in Europe after a Dubai-based dairy applied for an export licence.

Camelicious already sells its products across the Gulf region and now the company has ambitious plans to break the European market.

But it needs to convince EU officials the camel milk meets stringent health and safety tests.

Camelicious lawyer David Wernery says camel milk is far more nutritious than its cow counterpart.

"First of all, the vitamin C content is very much higher in camel milk than in cow's milk, about 4 or 5% more," he said.

"It is low in fat, naturally low in fat, so cow's milk has about 4%, camel milk has almost 2% fat.

"So it is like drinking skimmed cow's milk but it still has the rich texture and full body taste of normal milk."

The idea was first hatched almost 10 years ago by David's father Ulrich, who is Dubai's chief veterinarian.

He had just returned from a conference on camel husbandry in Tajikistan.

This is where he first tasted milk from the humped beast.

Mr Wernery Sr was so taken with the milk that he set about persuading his employer, Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed, to invest in his plan.

"The Bedouins who lived in the desert lived mainly from camel milk and dates," he said.

"Without camels, they would not have survived in the desert.

"The milk was a very good source of protein but it has never been used for commerce.

"When I came back from the conference, I told Sheikh Mohammed that he has wonderful race camels but they also produce milk.

"It is the white gold of the desert and I tried to convince him to open a commercial dairy farm. He was very enthusiastic.

"For two years we tested 16 camels with a camel-milking machine and a stand.

"It was then that Sheikh Mohammed called me and said 'let's start the dairy farm tomorrow'."

That small experiment has grown into a multi-million pound dairy and the specialist hand-selected herd is now over 3,000 strong.

The custom-made machinery and the state-of-the-art milking plant are top secret.

Journalists are not allowed on site because, according to the dairy managers, they "may carry infections that could compromise the camel herd".

But it's more probably because the race is on in the Arab world to farm and harvest one of the few abundantly available resources.

One problem facing potential dairy farmers is that most camels produce insufficient milk to make commercial profit.

One way around that is to invent one that does. Earlier this year scientists in Dubai unveiled Injaz, the world's first cloned camel.

She was created in a laboratory using cells taken from the ear of a slaughtered camel.

Injaz represents hope for the future of the uber camel: one that is stronger, faster and more productive.

One by-product of camel milk that is already available in Europe is chocolate.

Because it is less than 50% animal product, it is not subject to the same rules as the milk.

The chocolate is popular in the Far East and Camelicious claims it struggles to meet growing demand from its local Middle Eastern customers.

General manager Martin Van Almsick reckons once customers get over their initial reservations they are hooked after their first bite.

"What is inside the chocolate fulfils the promise. Everyone who has a chocolate in their mouth is able to tell," he said.

"Camel milk has a slightly salty taste, we tried to preserve that special quality in the chocolate and everybody can tell."

See video at: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Strange-News/Camel-Milk-Camelicious-Dairy-From-Dubai-Hoping-To-Export-White-Gold-Of-The-Desert-To-Europe/Article/200912415511568?f=rss

Humpback Horror: Camel Chaos In Oz

RIGHT: Camels were used by white settlers who built roads and railways across the Outback

Thursday November 26, 2009
Ian Woods, Sky correspondent in Australia

Around 6,000 feral camels are rampaging through a remote Australian town causing chaos and terrifying the locals, prompting the government to organise a mass cull.

The Northern Territory government said that the community of Docker River was "under siege".

Local government minister Rob Knight said: "They've actually come right into the community smashing infrastructure, so it's become a critical situation.

"There are health issues, there are camels being trampled, and dead carcasses in the community.

"They are smashing over water mains and intruding on the airstrip, causing problems with medical evacuations."

Many of the 330 residents are said to be too scared to leave their homes. The town is around 150 miles west of Uluru, commonly known as Ayers Rock.

Graham Taylor, the chief executive of local authority Macdonnell Shire, told Sky News it was a crisis.

"It began four weeks ago with 25 or 30 camels, but every day more and more turned up looking for water," he said.

He said the camels would be rounded up and taken out of town to be shot humanely.

The animals are part of a wild herd of more than a million camels which roam the central Australian desert.

They were introduced to the country in the 19th century when white settlers built roads and rail across the Outback, and used the animals for transportation.

The camels were set free afterwards, and have been breeding ever since.

With few natural predators and vast sparsely-populated areas in which to roam, the camel population has soared, putting pressure on native species by reducing food sources, destroying habitat and spreading disease.

Earlier this year, the Federal government announced it was allocating £10m to tackle the problem.

See video at: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Wild-Camels-On-The-Rampage-In-Australia-Animals-To-Be-Culled-In-Northern-Territory/Article/200911415469393?f=rss