Categories
Camel and Nature Connection

Stocking camels in the ancient megafauna’s homeland

If global policymakers are serious about addressing the challenge of climate change and future food security, they must think outside the box. 

Camel ensures food security

Let us make the ancient megafauna’s homeland significant again with enormous herbivores, particularly camels. Why especially camels? Camels are food security livestock in the face of climate change, and they represent humanity’s future hopes.

Extinction of megafauna

Human activities triggered the extinction of great herbivores in America and Australia approximately 50,000 and 13,000 years ago, respectively.

The extinction of the majority of the world’s megafauna (often defined as animal species with body weights) happened between the late Pleistocene and the early Holocene, resulting in a global collapse in faunal density and diversity. The extinction had a significant impact on the succession of flora and fauna in ecosystems, as well as the regime shift of previously established animal relationships. 

There are already feral large herbivores in both areas, including camels in Australia. Unfortunately, there is an extremely bad management policy for feral camels. Shooting is not management, but rather the loss of a valuable resource. Camels can be handled as a possible source of food security rather than a burden or waste. The camel has evolved dramatically over the last 50 years and now possesses the world’s largest camel herd (approximately 1 million). 

The best thriving and sustainable large herbivore—the camel

Aside from camels, America has a diversified array of huge herbivores. The aridlands of both regions can be transformed into a camel paradise, providing a conducive habitat for the extremely valuable and sustainable big herbivores known as camels. 

With the help of camels, we can transform this land into a food basket for future generations. It will also benefit ecosystems and reduce the probability of fire hazards. 

Further reading

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_feral_camel

https://arkbiodiv.com/2022/05/18/the-camels-play-important-role-in-ecosystem-management-important-actor-of-the-desert

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *