Australian officials are proposing a scheme that could help eliminate non-native camels that have ravaged the country’s northern habitats, while at the same time helping hunters earn cash for killing the greenhouse gas-belching invaders.

Australia’s estimated 1.2 million camels comprise the world’s largest wild camel population.

They were imported, mainly from India, between 1840 and 1907 to provide European settlers access to arid areas of central and western Australia.

Each camel belches enough methane every year to equal the climate-warming effects of one metric ton of carbon dioxide.

A new bill would create a carbon credit system that would pay for each camel slaughtered with funds given by industrial polluters to offset their own carbon emissions.

Mark Dreyfus, the government's parliamentary secretary for climate change, said he hopes the proposal finally wipes out camels from the Australian wild.

The animals compete with sheep and cattle for food and water, trample vegetation and sometimes invade remote communities in search of water.

Photos: File