Camels played a vital part in opening up the arid regions of central Australia. They were used by early explorers to safely traverse arid inland regions, and later used to carry goods for sale to remote residents by Afghan cameleers.
The camels found in Australia are the single-humped ‘dromedaries’ (camelus dromedarius). Camels are very practical for riding across the country (they are much more water-efficient than horses, can carry substantially heavier loads, deal with sandy conditions with ease, they really stride out and provide a much higher viewpoint than a horse), they’re great eating and they’re efficient weed eaters too (especially prickly acacia, which is a noxious weed in northern ‘downs’ country). However Australia now has hundreds of thousands of wild camels, the largest population of wild camels in the world. They have bred up to environmentally damaging numbers in sensitive arid inland areas so there are a number of people working on developing a viable export industry.
Paddy McHugh has more interesting information on Ships of the Desert.
Camel Industry information can also be obtained from the Camels Australia Export website, and the Department of Environment.
Tips on travelling with camels can be found at the Map Shop.
There is a lengthy list of Australian and overseas camel-related links at Camel News.
Camel races are held regularly in several outback towns, such as Alice Springs and Boulia.