Australian Abattoirs

More commonly known as Wamboden abattoir, located 30km north of Alice Springs. This facility processes camels.

Other Names

• Wamboden abattoir

Current Operation

• Facility can process cattle and camels.
• Company operating – Centralian Gold²

Location

Owner

• G Dann.¹

Operation

• Wamboden abattoir is located 30 kilometres north of Alice Springs

History

1995

• Central Australian Camel Industry Association (CACIA) is formed to develop markets for trade in live camels and camel meat.⁴
• Estimated population in Australia of feral camels in 1995 – 500,000 head⁴
• Northern Territory feral camel population estimated to be 60,000 head.⁴

Source http://www.camelsaust.com.au. 24/01/2015
Distribution of Feral camel (Camelus dromedarius) in Australia 1995 (shaded lighter orange)

• Camels to be processed at an abattoir are required to be⁴
  • between 3-10 years old⁴
  • < 400kg, >600kg. Larger animals can’t be handled.⁴
  • Camels must have previous handling before transported to abattoirs.⁴
  • if killed when stressed the meat will be darker, taste poorly and not have a good shelf life.⁴
  • Bulls are not to be in rut (in season), they have a concentrated body odour which makes the meat not fit for human consumption⁴
  • Cows in final stages of pregnancy must not be sent to the abattoir and cows recently calved will be rejected.⁴

2008

• Northern Territory population of feral camels now estimated to be 250,000 – 300,000 head⁵
  • Located over 875,000 square kilometres of southern NT⁵
  • Causing significant damage to the environment, degradation of wetlands, destruction of vegetation⁵
• Caring for Our Country initiative – 4 year national project – Australian Feral Camel Management Project (AFCMP)⁵.
  • reduce the numbers of feral camels commencing 2009/2010⁵
  • Aerial culling⁵

2010

• February. Contract possibly to be signed to supply up to 50 tonnes of camel meat a week²
  • Slaughter about 400 camels per week²
    • boning and processing to be conducted in South Australia²
  • Supply Australian domestic markets²
    • 10% of the Australian Muslim population²
    • Require a Halal slaughter²
• October. Federal Government is conducting a camel cull $19M to remove 25,000 animals³
• Federal Minister for Agriculture – Joe Ludwig is considering all options for camels including live export and export of processed meat.³
• NT Government say camel trade is not viable and cull must continue to protect the environment.³

2013

• AFCMP project to June 2013 – culled 52,000 camels in the NT by aerial shooting
  • another 12,000 taken on the ground
  • Estimated to be a 60% reduction of animals in Western desert and 20% in Simpson desert.
  • Estimate a further 25-30,000 animals to be removed in 2013
• Peterborough abattoir (SA) and Caboolture (QLD) are currently processing 10,000 -15,000 camels per year.
  • have the capacity to process many more
  • significant challenges in the supply chain and high transport costs.
• Wambonden is processing up to 20 camels a week.
• Portable abattoirs considered – difficulty to obtain the meat hygiene standards for human consumption
  • Pet meat application for camels is a possibility however risks are assoicated with Indospicine contamination.
    • Toxin found in plants of genus Indigofera. Toxin accumulates in tissue of horses and camels and cause death of dogs if they eat the meat.

Sources

1. Personal communication.
2. ‘Alice springs abattoir to produce halal camel meat’ Daily Telegraph 22.02.2010
3. ‘Ludwig not ruling out central Australian camel industry’ ABC rural. 21.10.2010
4. http://www.camelsaust.com.au
5. Alice Springs Rural Review December 2012.