Australia is now home to the world’s largest feral camel population, with estimates from several hundred thousand to as many as a million. Females can give birth every two years and live up to 40 years in the wild, meaning the number of camels can double every nine years. Weighing an average of 1,000 pounds, they roam in herds from fewer than 10 to several hundred, trampling ecosystems and destroying infrastructure. The creatures are voracious consumers of plants, competing with other wildlife and livestock, and limiting food sources for Aboriginal communities. They destabilize sand dunes, which can lead to erosion. Camels also foul water holes with their droppings or by mobbing them, only to die of thirst, their carcasses poisoning what little water is left.