Australian water quality affected by dead camels

Water holes and sacred sites in Australia have been polluted by the carcases of thousands of dead camels, according to news reports in the country.

Drought across the outback has resulted in many of the desert-dwelling animals dying of thirst, with some of them falling into water sources and polluting them as they decay.

Chief of the Central Land Council David Alexander told ABC news that the corpses were causing serious problems in terms of finding clean, safe water supplies in certain regions.

"It means that those areas are not useable for aboriginal people and when they do refill with water there's a significant health risk," he said.

Mr Alexander added that the carcases were having a significant impact on biodiversity and urged the government to take action to cull the burgeoning camel population.

The Central Land Council operates within the southern half of the Northern Territory and it works as a Commonwealth statutory authority under the Aboriginal Land Rights act.

Posted by Claire Manning