Australia's feral camel numbers drop to 750,000

Feral camels in Australia's outback. Photo / Supplied

Australia's feral camel population has dropped to about 750,000 but it remains the largest in the world, new figures show.

The Australian Feral Camel Management Project says the camels are spread across about 3.3 million square kilometres of Western Australia, the Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland.

Project manager Jan Ferguson said between 2001 and 2008 the camel population was put at about one million.

"Since then, however, there has been a major drought, the feral camel management program has come into effect and population survey techniques have been improved," she said in a statement on Tuesday.

Ms Ferguson said under the management program about 85,000 camels had been culled while the drought had increased mortality rates.

But wildlife scientist Glenn Edwards said sophisticated satellite tracking showed the density of feral camels was still too high in some areas and more control work was required.

"Feral camels can travel 70 kilometres in one day and hundreds of kilometres within a week, over incredibly harsh terrain," he said.

"We know that when they herd, they can converge on a natural waterhole used by native animals and drink it dry within days.

"This has a devastating effect on the local flora and fauna and shows exactly why we need to control the population density of these animals."

The next check on feral camel numbers is scheduled for 2013.

- AAP