Rudd called serial killer as Australia culls camels

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Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has faced criticism from some quarters for his government’s plan to cull thousands of wild camels each year.

The Australian government's plan to cull tens of thousands of wild camels each year has drawn the ire of a US television news presenter who this week called Prime Minister Kevin Rudd "a serial killer".

CNBC newsreader Erin Burnett broke away from her usual market update to inform viewers that Rudd's government has launched "air strikes against camels in the Outback".

"There is a serial killer in Australia and we are going to put a picture up so we can see who it is," Burnett said, with a stuffed toy camel sitting in front of her, before showing a large photograph of Rudd.

Jim Cramer, CNBC channel's colourful financial expert, said Rudd was guilty of "genocide. Camelcide."

While Burnett later played down her remarks as "a dead pan joke" and invited Rudd onto the show, the vent drew attention to the planned cull. The government says it's necessary to control a camel population that causes A$14m ($11.7m) worth of damage each year to pastoral land, fences and native flora and fauna.

The early colonists introduced camels to Australia in the 1800s to help them explore the country's central and western deserts.Their numbers have since soared and researchers estimate one million feral camels - the largest wild herd in the world - are now roaming the country's Outback.

The government has allocated A$19m ($16.28m) to control the camel population, which is increasing at a rate of about 80,000 annually - or doubling every nine years.

As many as 25,000 camels are currently killed each year, either for their meat or as part of a culling program carried out by marksmen in helicopters and on the ground, according to environment minister Peter Garrett, former lead singer with rock band Midnight Oil.

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