Tourists on a sightseeing plane were treated to an incredibly rare scene while exploring Australia’s vast landscape from above, as an unprecedented natural event sees inland Australia fill with water.
A pilot from tour company Arid Air was stumped when he spotted a lone camel making its way through the thick salt pan to get to the waters of the iconic Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre.
In an event that has only happened less than a handful of times in the last 160 years, the usually arid region has filled with thousands of gigalitres of water to create what is known as Australia’s “inland sea”.
As the water filled the basin, the land erupted with life. New flora has emerged, with the area exploding into a blanket of vivid wildflowers and animals, including fish, and birds have flocked to breed and feed. Now, larger animals like the lonely, wandering camel have arrived to take advantage of the waters.
Clearly, the large animal realised its huge mistake and halfway changed its mind. It appeared to be stuck in the mud.
The pilot captured the bizarre scene at the beginning of the camel’s attempted return to land, and Arid Air chief pilot Philip van Wegen told Yahoo News nobody knows if it managed to make its way back to dry land.
“You don’t see that a lot on the lake at all,” he told Yahoo News. “It’s a rare one.”
Philip believes the camel was attempting to get to the water when it “found it was stuck”.
The remarkable scene comes as the area has been flooded with water in an incredible ‘once in 50 years’ natural event. Philip and his crew have been taking tourists up in the air to witness the breathtaking view as Australia’s “inland sea” fills in.
A camel made a U-turn on its way to the waters of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre after becoming stuck. Source: Arid Air
Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre ‘very busy’ as tourists flock to region
Philip said air tours continue to be “very busy” with visitors, and there’s “still a lot of water in the lake”, meaning there is still plenty of time to catch a glimpse of the rare occurrence.
And while tourists continue to catch incredible wildlife moments through the plane window, some fear that as the native wildlife proliferates, so too will invasive pests like camels.
Invasive pigs, camels, cats and foxes will also be attracted to the rarely-seen waters. Buffel grass, branded one of Australia’s “most devastating invaders”, is likely to spread like wildfire too.
Invasive Species Council’s Dr Carol Booth previously told Yahoo News that camels, an invasive species, can have devastating impacts on desert environments, and the responsibility of controlling their populations largely falls on remote communities.
Pelicans, ducks and black swans have been sighted from the air. Source: Arid Air
Why are there camels in outback Australia?
Camels were first brought to Australia from countries like Egypt, Iran and Turkey in the 1800s to help explore central Australia where they played an essential role in transporting supplies through our harsh terrain.
Camels are highly mobile and can forage over 70km a day in groups of up to hundreds. While most females only give birth to one calf every couple of years, they can live up to 50 years and have very few threats other than human interaction.
In the desert, their populations have exploded as a result, making Australia home to the largest wild population of Arabian camels in the world, according to Pest Smart.
According to the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, camels get most of their water requirements from desert vegetation, but can drink “brackish”, or salty water, to survive.
Remarkably, a dehydrated camel can drink 200 litres of water in just three minutes.
“The Australian environment didn’t evolve to cope with camels, and they cause enormous damage to desert ecosystems,” Dr Booth said. Their hard hooves and taste for native Aussie plants can cause strain on delicate desert environments.
“Because they are in remote areas, the damage is very little noticed and not given a lot of attention, but they are such a damaging invasive species for Australia,” she explained. They can also destroy fences, compete with wildlife and damage Indigenous cultural sites.
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