駱駝過多成負擔 澳議員呼籲“殺駱駝救地球”
Australia is considering proposals to kill all the wild camels that roam the outback as part of its contribution to fighting global warming。
The 1.2 million camels, considered pests by farmers and conservationists, each produce a methane equivalent of one ton of carbon dioxide a year。
That makes them collectively one of the Australia's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases。
But if the government goes ahead, politicians will be braced for a backlash from animal lovers, who are already a powerful voice against annual kangaroo culls。
Tim Moore, managing director of Adelaide-based Northwest Carbon, a commercial company, proposed the extermination idea to the government。
He said: 'They live anywhere from 30 to 50 years in the wild and because there's 1.2 million of them their numbers and the gases they produce are doubling every nine years.'
The camels were brought to the country by Afghan migrant workers in the 1800s to help with building roads and laying railroad tracks。
Under Mr Moore's plan, which will see the government awarding carbon credits to individuals and organisations involved in the cull, camels will be shot from helicopters or four-wheel-drive vehicles。
Others would be rounded up and sent to an abattoir for either human or pet consumption。
Culls of camels that roam in the outback reaches of four states have been carried out before, but Mr Moore's plan would involve wiping out every one of the creatures。
Mr Moore said there were particularly great job opportunities for Aborigines who joined in the project。
Mark Dreyfus, parliamentary secretary for climate change, said the government was considering various proposals to reduce carbon pollution - including Mr Moore's suggestion - to be included in Canberra's 'Carbon Farming Initiative'。
Without nuclear power, Australia relies on coal to generate electricity, putting it among the world's worst per capita polluters。爲抵禦全球氣候變暖，澳大利亞正考慮接受撲殺所有內陸地區野生駱駝的建議。
澳大利亞目前有120萬頭駱駝，被農民和環保主義者視爲害獸。每頭駱駝每年排出的甲烷相當於一噸二氧化碳。
因此，這120萬頭駱駝已成爲澳大利亞最大的溫室氣體排放大軍。
但如果政府撲殺駱駝，又將受到動物保護者的強烈抵制，每年撲殺袋鼠的活動已經遭到了他們的猛烈抨擊。
位於阿德萊德的西北部碳工程商業公司總經理蒂姆•摩爾向政府提議徹底撲殺駱駝。
他說：“駱駝在野外到處都是，壽命長達30年到50年，多達120萬隻，而且種羣數量和廢氣排放量每九年就翻一番。”
駱駝是在19世紀由前來修建公路、鋪設鐵軌的阿富汗外來務工者帶到澳大利亞的。
按照摩爾的計劃，撲殺人員會開着直升機、駕駛四驅車“追殺”野駝大軍。政府將向參與撲殺的個人和組織獎勵碳信用額。
其它駱駝將被趕到一起，送進屠宰場，製成人或寵物的食品。
澳大利亞的四個州曾經開展過撲殺內地野生駱駝的行動，但摩爾的計劃卻是將駱駝徹底滅種。
摩爾稱，這一活動能爲土著居民提供大量的工作機會。
澳大利亞氣候變化議會祕書馬克•德弗斯表示，政府正在考慮多種措施減少碳排放，包括摩爾的建議。這些措施將被納入政府制定的“農業碳排措施”中。
澳大利亞不使用核能，主要依靠煤發電，是全球人均污染最嚴重的國家之一。
