Campers discover mysterious circular footprints around their tent
A group of Australian travelers were left feeling anxious and uneasy after finding bizarre footprints at their remote outback campsite.
Michelle Gilmore and her family noticed the markings in the red sand when they arrived at the site in East Warakurna, near the border of Western Australia and the Northern Territory, last week.
Eventually, they realized that the perfectly round prints belonged to a flock of camels they had seen along the way.
While Mrs Gilmore and her partner had a caravan to sleep in, her mother, brother and sister-in-law were ‘nervous’ that the camels would return and trample their tents.
The group had seen ‘lots of wildlife’ as they approached the site from Curtin Springs, where they stayed the previous night more than 200 miles to the east.
The trio pitched their tents “against a tree so they were safe from the camels.”
Another camper at the previous campsite said they had recently been “woken up in the middle of the night by camels charging near their van,” Ms. Gilmore recalled in a Facebook after
Campers feared they would be trampled after noticing these circular footprints on their campsite, which belonged to a flock of camels that roamed the area
The family’s chilling encounter took place during a 70-day camping trip through the ‘center of Australia’.
It is believed that there are more than 300,000 wild camels roaming the Australian outback.
They were first imported to Australia from India and Afghanistan in the 1840s as pack animals for research and development in arid areas.
By the 20th century, more than 4,500 had been introduced to Western and Central Australia for use in goldfields during the Gold Rush.
A fast-growing wild population began spreading in the early 20th century after being casually released as motorized transportation became more popular.
Michelle Gilmore and her family were left terrified by footprints around their campsite
The Western Australian government declared wild camels an agricultural pest in 2007 because their grazing causes serious damage to the local environment.
They also compete directly for food with native animals, such as kangaroos and possums, and digest many plants that did not previously exist.
Camels are also known to be aggressive towards sheep, cattle and other livestock during dry conditions and deprive them of water.