Australia has quite a large wild camel population. In the middle of the 1800's Afghan cameleers were encouraged to come here, complete with camels, to carry stores across our vast, dry, outback regions. Naturally some escaped and started breeding - our outback was like home away from home. Anyway, in the interim, in the camel regions of the Middle East, managed breeding took place to produce better camels. Don't ask me what for - maybe to produce more milk or have bigger humps or something. Anyway, the upshot of this is that we have the only decent herds of purebred camels. When the sheiks want fair dinkum camels for some special hoedown or tent warming party they buy them from us. There are people here seriously looking to farm camels for meat. The next generation of McDonalds may begin right here with Oz camel-burgers. And a feed of ribs would certainly top you up.

JG / F.M.E.