5,000 camels shot dead in Australia

Sydney: Helicopter-borne marksmen killed more than 5,000 camels in a five-day cull of feral herds that were threatening indigenous communities in drought-stricken areas of southern Australia, officials said Tuesday.

Aboriginal leaders in South Australia state said extremely large herds of the non-native camels had been driven towards rural communities by drought and extreme heat, threatening scarce food and drinking water, damaging infrastructure, and creating a dangerous hazard for drivers.

The cull in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands -- home to about 2,300 indigenous people in the arid northwest of South Australia -- ended on Sunday, said APY general manager Richard King.

"We appreciate the concerns of animal rights activists, but there is significant misinformation about the realities of life for non-native feral animals, in what is among the most arid and remote places on Earth," King said in a statement on Tuesday.

"As custodians of the land, we need to deal with an introduced pest in a way that protects valuable water supplies for communities and puts the lives of everyone, including our young children, the elderly, and native flora and fauna first."

Meanwhile, Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos' Instagram post announcing $690,000 towards the Australian bushfires relief efforts has drawn social media ire with many claiming that the amount he donated pales in comparison to other wealthy contributors.

The internet was quick to point out that the amount is roughly how much money Mr Bezos, who is worth $117 billion, makes in minutes.

One woman even claimed she raised nearly twice what Amazon pledged by selling her nude photos online.