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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READERS' COMMENTS

Australian Camel cull
Posted by mal fabian, mount barker, Australia on Friday 11 December 2009 at 05:46 UAE time


Shooting up to 1,270,000 camels at a cost of over 19 million dollars is insanity , a camel industry will one day replace to cattle industry once the facts are examined

Culling cattle numbers would make far more sense a million or two camels cause far far less damage than 30 million cattle , most of the push for culling camels comes from beef farmers wanting the feed and water, for cattle that fail to even do well , most cattle farms make no profit , yet waste heaps shooting camels , ANYBODY who examines the facts could see the insanity in destroying an fledgling industry to save a dying one .Camel farming WILL indeed replace cattle once sanity returns

these Camels are not WILD animals , many can be patted like pets until the shooting starts , then they cannot be seen as they easily hide and become unapproachable and unmanageable , making culling impossible and farming them more difficult and unprofitable

it is insanity , or ignorant ill informed arrogant in the extreme

mal fabian

South Australia

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