A Quantitative Assessment of Risk for the Importation of Camels into New Zealand

ABSTRACT

Introduced species, particularly mammals, have caused significant damage to New Zealand's environment. In 1996 specific legislation was put in place to manage intentional introductions. In 2008 approval was sought to import 16 camels (Camelus dromedarius) into New Zealand for the purpose of establishing a trekking company. This article provides a summary of the quantitative assessment undertaken on the risks of importing camels. It was found that camels posed a low risk to public health but had a serious risk of establishing a wild population in New Zealand. The risk of camels becoming a pest was assessed as moderate. Overall, although the assessment ranked camels as a serious threat to New Zealand, this likely reflects the overly conservative nature of the assessment tool.

Key Words:

• biological introductions
• mammal
• environmental impact
• propagule pressure
• climate match

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author thanks all those who took part in informing the use of this assessment tool, in particular, Geoff Ridley. I also thank two anonymous referees whose comments helped to significantly improve this article.