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Summary Camel meat could become the newest Australian export by 2012.
If an Egyptian businessman, Magdy El Ashram, is successful with his bid to open a slaughterhouse and meat processing plant in a rural South Australian town, camel meat could become the newest Australian export by 2012.Exporting camel meat can reduce a feral camel population in the Australian outback that has caused serious ecological problems, and create up to 300 jobs in a place that needs them badly. Magdy El Ashram said, “Camel meat is much better than beef. If you put beef, mutton, kangaroo, emu any meat, then camel meat will be the lesser fat than all of them.Camel is a popular food in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, and Australia has the resources to provide meat to people who like it, he said.The Australian Federal Government has provided A$19 million ($20 million) over four years to assist in managing feral camels, and a camel culling program began in 2010. The animals cause more than A$10 million a year in damage to fragile outback ecosystems.
