A similar (to the camels) annoyance was observed in the southwest US, after the Army (in the late 1800s I believe) brought in a small herd of camels - and a camel jockey who's name escapes me - in the belief that the SW Arizona Territory was mostly desert so the camels would make great steeds for the cavalry.

Unfortunately, most of the Territory was stony desert rather than sandy desert, and the stones pretty much crippled the camels so they were "released to fend for themselves."

There were still scattered claims of camel sightings as recently as the 1950s - 60s, but none verified so far as I heard.

On the other hand, the burros that the gold prospectors "lost" were quite prolific and a notorious and noxious pest; but they might (still?) have all the "usefulness capacity" of an Aussie camel.

In the wild, both are incredibly nasty beasts but I've met a few girls like that who were on (limited) occasion quite fun so I'll acquiesce to the opinions of those more experienced in "beast handling."

John