The Ministry of Agriculture has entered into negotiations with its Australian counterpart over importing Australian camels into the Kingdom according to specific standards and conditions, said Dr. Khalid Al-Fuhaid, assistant undersecretary for livestock affairs at the ministry. “We're still negotiating with Australian officials. We'll import live camels from Australia according to certain quarantine measures because Australian camels live in the countryside far away from cities. They will be imported for human consumption purposes,” the ministry official said. Saudi importers and Australian exporters entered into talks following the Australian government's decision to cull camels which have caused a lot of damage to countryside homes and crops and have multiplied over the past years. Australians do not like consuming camel meat or milk, therefore the government is considering exporting camel meat to the Kingdom when and if Saudi consumers show interest. Australian farmers and cattle owners formed teams to cull camels that have eaten a large quantity of their crops in the northern region and destroyed water reservoirs and pumps and wreaked havoc. A Saudi website launched a campaign two years ago to support Australian camels which faced an aerial cull by the Australian government. The name of the campaign was derived from the Qur'anic verse “Then do they not look at the camels – how they are created?” The website called upon livestock businessmen to import Australian camels and save them from being culled. Salim Al-Dawsari, who owns over 80 camels in Jeddah, said: “I've been in love with camels since I was a child and today I'm over fifty years old. I'm surprised how Australians can even think about culling these beautiful animals.” __
