Camel-loving Saudis have launched a massive internet campaign to stop Australia from killing thousands of wild camels and instead send them to the kingdom.
The Australian government has announced plans to kill 6,000 feral camels, using use helicopters and marksmen, in a small northern town next week.
The Saudi internet campaign is gaining momentum, Arab News reports on Wednesday, with a number of camel owners volunteering to take the beasts.
Salim Al-Hajjaji, told the paper: “I own more than 80 camels but I am quite willing to receive as many more from Australia. I am now about 50 years old but I am as attached to camels as I was in my boyhood.”
Camels are not native to Australia, but were introduced in the 1840s. Now more than a million camels live there, with the number set to double in nine years, the paper reported.
Australians regard camels as a pest, trampling crops, eating food meant for sheep and cattle, and ripping up water pipes.
However, the camel is Saudi Arabia’s favourite animal and much-cherished for its ability to survive in the desert for days without food or water.
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