*162 of 240 camels sold to $790, av $249
An online auction of more than 240 camels has been hailed as a success by its listing coordinator.
The unique sale of camels, which had been yarded in Rutherglen, were sold online under the direction of an American investor coming off the market and was previously part of a camel dairy operation.
Listing coordinator Michael Downie said the sale had gone "exceptionally well".
"We cleared about 67 per cent clearance under the hammer with AuctionsPlus have since sold all camels. privately thereafter," he said.
Mr Downie said the demand for camels was unexpected and was happy with the variance of buyers that showed interest.
"I don't believe any of them have gone to slaughter, and they will head to homes all around the country," he said.
"It was quite pleasing to see that, and I think we were in a situation that if we had an extra couple 100 camels I could probably sell them."
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The top price at the sale was Lot 36 Heifer 63B Giddy, which fetched a price of $790, with most lots selling camels in the mid $200 range.
Mr Downie said Giddy fetched the top price as he was super quiet with humans but said much of the general interest in all the camels was due to them being already well handled.
"Most of the camels that were in this sale were that they had been very well domesticated ... and such a big herding generated quite a big interest for the publicity it received," he said.
Other high-priced camels included a very quiet mature camel bull in Lot 129 Camel "C" Coffee, who fetched $490, while a pregnant camel in Lot 134 Snickers was bought for $510.
While there were very few buyers in areas where camels are common in Australia - Queensland and the Northern Territory - Mr Downie said the stock would be heading to many sites in the eastern states.
"Buyers from Victoria and News South Wales dominated the sale, but some of these camels are actually heading down on the boat to Tasmania, and some are heading to a buyer based in South Australia as well," he said.
