Assessing the abundance and impacts of feral camels in the Great Victoria Desert: A report to the Aboriginal Lands Integrated Natural Resource Management Group

Abstract

An aerial survey of 63,512 km2 of the eastern Great Victoria Desert was conducted to determine the abundance of feral camels in and around the Unnamed Conservation Park, and in parts of the Maralinga-Tjarutja, Ngaanyatjarra, Tjuntjuntjara and Anangu- Pitjantjatjara lands. A preliminary investigation into camel diet using faecal analysis was also undertaken, and observations of browsing impacts by camels were recorded. Densities of camels in the survey area, corrected for perception bias, ranged from 0.14 km-2 in the Oak Valley section in the south-east to 0.64 km-2 in the Wataru section in the north, giving a total population of approximately 16,263 camels for the area surveyed. Over 35 plant species were identified from camel faeces and signs of camel browsing were recorded on Brachychiton gregorii, Santalum acuminatum and Codonocarpus cotinifolius. These results suggest that the current camel density recorded for the Great Victoria Desert is already having a negative impact on the biodiversity values of the area.