It is a common phrase that they breed 'em tough in the outback, and at 96 years old, one cameleer is living proof.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 5 minutes 50 seconds 5 m A Big Country: 'Wilco' the 96-year-old cameleer ( Claire Campbell ) Download 2.7 MB

John Wilkinson, or Wilco as he prefers to be known, is as hardy — and witty — as the animals he works with.

"While I can, I will," he said.

Wilco said that each year he is getting slower and weaker, which he finds annoying, but adds that is "better than the alternative".

"I mean I can only ride a really quiet horse now … and I'll probably need an oil drum to get off.

"It's one of those annoyances about getting old."

'I've met a lot of interesting camels'

Wilco was "horse mad as a boy" and spent his life working with sheep and cattle, minus a couple of years when he joined the artillery during World War II.

But he said he was always interested in camels and the way they helped shape the Australian outback that he turned to cameleering in "retirement".

Every winter for the past 40-odd years, he has packed up his troopy in the New South Wales Riverina and driven north to Central Australia to work with the beasts.

Wilco says camels have a shocking reputation but are actually very interesting. ( ABC News: Claire Campbell )

"They're fascinating animals," he said.

"I mean they've got a shocking reputation but I guess I've met a lot of very interesting camels," he said.

"Whenever the press mentions camels they talk about spitting and kicking and biting but camels aren't like that, providing they understand if you've got confidence.

"That old saying about God wanting to produce an animal and started with a horse, botched it and got a camel. Well that's bullshit."

At 96 still constantly learning and on Facebook

Fellow cameleer Andrew Harper – who runs scientific expeditions in the Simpson Desert – has worked with Wilco for about 17 years.

These days, Wilco helps him prepare the camels for week-long expeditions, but Mr Harper said he was constantly learning from his knowledge.

Wilco's work ethic is said to be that of someone half his age. ( ABC News: Claire Campbell )

"This is a guy who's up with the latest gadgets. He's on Facebook, he's got his ipad," Mr Harper said.

"(His work ethic) is the same as a man half his age.

"A couple of the chaps who work with me are retired stockmen, so we call them mini-Wilcos - they're up and coming," Mr Harper said.

Cameleering 'has bright future' in Central Australia

Cameleering has a long history in Central Australia since the mid-1800s, and while numbers are dwindling these days, Mr Harper believes it still has a bright future.

"It's a link back to the history books, definitely," he said.

"But it works and it allows us to get out into country that you can't visit – or maybe shouldn't – visit with a four-wheel drive.

"It's giving us a whole new, fresh data set about what's going on out there which will be going to the national archives."