You’d hardly think it possible, but a new species of great cat has been identified – the Bornean clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi). Of course you can guess the final lines of the story – numbers are thought to be small, and he species endangered. Sigh.
And an introduced species is facing an equally bleak future – camels, although not native to Australia (and less harmful than the hard-hooved sheep, goats and cattle that tear up the ancient soils) are said to be causing ecological chaos (when they aren’t dying of thirst in the drought), and culls are planned. Or worse…
The plan will examine the economic opportunities presented by the camels, including making them into pet food and building up exports. Australia does not have a licensed camel abattoir, but it exports live camels to South-east Asia, where they are slaughtered for their meat.
These are feral — ie wild — camels. The kind of stress they must undergo during live export doesn’t bear thinking about.
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