{
    "success": true,
    "data": {
        "id": 1805480,
        "msgid": "not-arabia-the-worlds-largest-wild-camel-population-is-found-near-indonesia-1781574659",
        "date": "2026-06-16 07:30:00",
        "title": "Not Arabia: The World's Largest Wild Camel Population Is Found Near Indonesia",
        "author": "",
        "source": "CNBC",
        "tags": "",
        "topic": "Agriculture",
        "summary": "Australia, Indonesia's southern neighbour, officially holds the record for the largest population of wild camels on Earth. Introduced during the 19th century for colonial infrastructure projects, the animals were released into the outback and have since multiplied explosively, triggering significant environmental and water crises.",
        "content": "<p>Camels have long been associated with the vast deserts of the Middle\nEast, such as Saudi Arabia or Egypt. However, a surprising fact remains\nlittle known: the country with the largest population of wild camels in\nthe world is located directly south of Indonesia, namely Australia. The\npresence of these long-legged mammals is now beginning to cause major\nproblems for the neighbouring nation. Australia\u2019s status as a haven for\nthe largest wild camel population on Earth has been officially confirmed\nby the Guinness Book of Records. In total, the number of camels in\nAustralia is not as high as in countries on the Arabian Peninsula or\nEast Africa such as Somalia, Chad, and Sudan. The difference is that in\nthose countries, camels have long been domesticated and are part of the\nlocal culture and economic engine, serving as livestock, a food source,\nand a means of transport. In the Land of the Kangaroo, however, these\ncamels live entirely in the wild. According to a report by IFLScience,\nthe growth of the wild camel population in Australia has surged so\ndramatically that it has triggered alarm from the local government.\nCamels are not actually endemic or native to Australia. The animals\nfirst set foot on the continent because they were brought by humans.\nHistorically, the ancestors of camels originated from the northern\nregion of the Americas. Around 6 to 7 million years ago, they migrated\nacross the Bering Strait land bridge into Asia and then spread to\nAfrica. It was in Asia and Africa that they evolved into the camels we\nknow today, while those that remained in the Americas evolved into other\nspecies like llamas. Separated by deep geographical barriers, including\nthe Wallace Line, ancient camels could never cross into Australia\nnaturally. Their jumbo body size also made it impossible for them to\nstow away in the hulls of ancient trading ships as rats or cats did. The\npresence of camels in Australia only began during the British colonial\nera. In the 19th century, the colonial government brought camels to\nassist in the construction of a telegraph line that cut through the arid\nAustralian desert. To operate them, they even brought in camel handlers\nand riders from regions that are now Afghanistan and Pakistan. The\ntrouble began when the era of motorised transport arrived. The camels\nwere simply released into the wild because they were deemed no longer\nneeded. With no natural predators and minimal competitors in the dry\nAustralian outback, the camels adapted remarkably well. The result was a\nmassive population explosion within a century. This population boom is\nnow recognised as a serious threat to the local ecosystem. Before the\narrival of camels, the largest mammal on the continent was the kangaroo.\nThe camels\u2019 voracious consumption of local vegetation rapidly depletes\nnative Australian plants. This triggers a food crisis for other endemic\nspecies, including endangered animals. Beyond destroying the food chain,\ncamels are known to guzzle massive amounts of water after enduring days\nof thirst. Consequently, many natural water sources in the outback are\ndrying up, triggering a clean water crisis for other wildlife and for\nhuman communities living in the area. Although the Australian government\nonce carried out a mass culling programme and successfully eliminated\naround 100,000 camels, this figure is deemed insufficient to curb the\ngrowth of the wild camel population, which is now estimated to have\nreached hundreds of thousands to millions in central Australia.\nNevertheless, their presence is not entirely negative. On the positive\nside, the camels\u2019 consumption of scrub grass in the outback is thought\nto slightly help limit the spread of wild grass, which indirectly helps\nsuppress the potential spread of the bushfires that frequently haunt\nAustralia.<\/p>",
        "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/not-arabia-the-worlds-largest-wild-camel-population-is-found-near-indonesia-1781574659",
        "image": ""
    },
    "sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
    "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}