Camel In The Weed

If you were in North Queensland, Australia last weekend, you could have participated in their first ever camel auction. As reported by the North Queensland Register, the camels (Camelus dromedarius) were being auctioned off as a solution for weed control. ABC Australia notes that the camels, over 1000 of which have been set upon the weeds of one small town (the same one that looks to be holding camel races this May), will eat nasty invaders including lantana (Lantana camara) and parkinsonia (Parkinsonia aculeata). This all seems a bit odd, especially given previous ISW posts about Australia's feral camel problem, but it sounds like a good weed-eating camel will fetch a decent price - up to $600 ($650AUS)!

Thanks to Bill from the Invasive Species of Eastern USA blog for sending in a link to this story.