NT camel cull starts deluge of hate mail

DARWIN - British residents outraged by plans to cull 6000 camels are warning other Europeans against visiting Australia.

Online discussion forums, which describe Australia as a third world country, have been running hot since it was revealed last week that residents in a small central Australian community were being held hostage by a herd of thirsty, marauding camels.

The Northern Territory Government announced last week it would conduct an emergency cull of 6000 feral camels at a cost of A$49,000 ($62,000).

NT Local Government Minister Rob Knight has since received hate mail from around the world.

Docker River, 500km southwest of Alice Springs, has been inundated by thousands of wild camels in recent weeks.

The animals have smashed water infrastructure in their hunt for moisture, and the quality of drinking water in the town is being threatened by the decaying bodies of camels that have been trampled by their herd.

The Times website last week posted a story about the camel siege, which prompted an influx of public comment.

One blogger suggested spending the A$49,000 to build a water hole for the camels, rather than herding them out of town by helicopter to slaughter them.

"The animals that live here alongside us deserve respect and if we can help them live, what is so wrong with that?" K. Jordon wrote.

Many comments state that Australia is not worthy of G20 status, while others claim Australians have a chip on their shoulder.

"Yet further evidence, if any were needed, that Australia is a third world country with a standard of living markedly below even the worst in Europe," John Spurway wrote.

The comments mirrored similar attacks made on US television this year, calling Prime Minister Kevin Rudd a "serial killer" for culling camels in remote Australia.

Not all correspondence to Knight has been critical. One man from Tanzania said he would be "more than happy to volunteer my time and knowledge for the culling effort to assist your area", he wrote.

- AAP