The Exiled Converted Foster’s-Guzzling Arabian Camels of Australia……..
“He said that pre-700 AD, pastoral Bedouin poetry (still highly esteemed in the Arabic and Islamic literary canon) expressed a deep emotional bond between poet and camel. Camel journeys in this poetry have philosophical meanings about the journey through life to death -- naturally so, because in the harsh desert the camel is integral to family and community life. But now camels are being viewed as vermin. Last November, under the headline “Town under siege: 6,000 camels to be shot”, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that trains of camels had invaded the town of Docker, breaking into houses and rooting up water pipes. During Australia’s worst drought on record, the camels were desperately seeking water. They were once a cultural oddity (camels were imported in the 1840s to help open up the interior, and then left to run wild) but have become a public menace. The local government response was to mobilise helicopters to drive them into the desert, where they would be shot and left to rot. Representatives of the cattle industry favour the cull, arguing that camels compete with cattle for sparse grazing. Environmentalists argue for a more humane and productive approach, such as developing an Australian camel industry on a par with that of cattle…….”
There was a movement by some Saudis a few months ago aimed at saving the camels of Australia. I thought it was a good “idea” although I had doubts about the practicality of locating and repatriating so many of them to Arabia. They probably found out that it was not profitable to do that. In case you haven’t noticed, the camel is one of my favorite animals, man’s second best friend elsewhere but man’s first best friend in the desert. A BFFF even. Yeah, develop the Australian camel industry, the meat tastes much better than a kangaroo’s, and the milk can be processed.
Besides, these dromedaries are Arabian in name only: they are now converted to whatever it is Australians believe (and the Foster’s beeah too).
Cheers
mhg
Mon Email
Comments