Far from their original home in the Arabian desert, hundreds of thousands of camels roam Australia’s remote desert and grassland regions. They are used for wild camel races, alternative milk production, and even for making beer.
British colonists brought camels to Australia for transport in the 19th century. Later, as cars came into use, the need for camels fell and many were released. Australia’s camel population is now estimated at between 300,000 and 1 million.
Many of these camels have gone wild. Authorities say they roam the desert regions creating various problems: competing with livestock for food, damaging fences, fouling water sources and harming Indigenous communities’ cultural sites.
But trained, domesticated camels have created a small export market for Australia. The country’s farmers sell camel milk and sometimes export live camels; 68 camels have been exported to Malaysia and Indonesia so far in 2026. According to trade data, Australia’s camel-meat exports were worth more than $3.9 million in 2024.
Warwick Hill, owner of the Humpalicious farm in the town of Robe in South Australia and a former navy captain, praised his camels’ qualities. Petting his camels, he said: “Working with them is very good. They can be tamed very easily.” He said: “If you treat them well, they usually respond the same way.”
Hill said camel milk had various health benefits, especially for those with allergy problems. He sells it at 20 Australian dollars a litre. Hill insisted camel milk was far better and higher quality than conventional “over-processed” milk. “We still haven’t found anyone who can’t drink camel milk,” he said. The scale of business is not yet big, however, and the farm earns from tourism and homestay activities alongside its camel income. According to Hill, the camel-milk market has huge potential, but its high price is a big obstacle, with labour costs and camels’ relatively low milk output pushing the price up. He said camel milk had special qualities, and that once people tasted it, they would prefer to drink it over anything else.
Further north in Australia, camels are used for more thrilling work. In the remote town of Marree, about 600km north of Adelaide, the Marree Camel Cup — a camel race — is held every year. In the 1860s, many Muslim camel handlers were brought to Australia from Afghanistan and various parts of Central and South Asia, used to handle camels for transport in the country’s desert interior.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report