In 1927 Afghan Shir Mohammed stood in the blistering heat of Marble Bar in Western Australia watching the last of his camel train disappearing towards the Gibson Desert. Shir turned to author Herbert Barker and said: “I say goodbye my ‘cameel’.” The age of the motor car had arrived so camels were soon to be relegated to history and released to survive as best they could.

Little did Shir know that his camels would not only survive but would thrive, becoming the world’s largest population of Arabian camels at about one million but in the process go from hero status to environmental pest…

In dry conditions, camels were causing issues everywhere in their search for water by a gold mine and cattle station near Leonora. The call for help went out to WA’s Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia Conservation & Wildlife Management group.

Camels were damaging troughs and tanks by drinking them dry then smashing them trying to obtain more water, causing stock losses.

Our CWM team of volunteers drove 1000km to the station. We poured over maps and reviewed the footage of camel herds at the water troughs, arriving as the drought broke so it was a race to intercept the camels before they retreated back to the desert. The decision was quickly made to split into four teams so we could cover more terrain.

Plenty of camel tracks, signs of grazing and damage at the waterholes became apparent. A constant threat to the vehicles was the wire everywhere from broken fences caused by the camels, which combined with relentless mud, made for some slow travel. We put more wear on our shoes than our tyres moving around those tracks.

Parked on a hilltop overlooking the salt lakes and glassing the numerous small ‘islands’ through the clouds of flies, we finally spotted a herd of five camels on an island nearly 2km away. The team practically waded through the salty mud with our necessary firearms in check.

After much effort we were finally in position for an appropriate shot and a .30-06 rifle dropped a big bull on the spot. Following a mad minute of playing hide-and-seek with an 8ft tall animal in thick scrub, the final camel was taken with a .308 rifle. We all developed a healthy appreciation for just how large – and tough – these creatures are.

It was hard work but we were committed to the task and also hopeful of filling our eskies with meat. The next day it rained even more and tracks turned into rivers. We persisted though and all four teams found success. A squad went east and dropped their share of camels.

The weather dried out and the line-up slowly added to the numbers. At the completion of the trip, 27 camels and a few rabbits were removed from the environment in this, the first such outing.

This project is a significant commitment by the trained volunteer followers. The CWM team has now repeated the nearly 2000km round trek several times and removed many more of these environmental pests.

There is a tinge of sadness to see such an iconic animal of a bygone era reduced to the status of a pest but the job has to be done. Sitting on the edge of the western desert, looking up at the clear sky just as Shir did nearly a century ago, we know our work has only just begun.