New ship of the desert docks

By Jessica Howard

If you see a baby camel hanging around Moorabool – don’t worry, it’s not a mirage.

A female calf was born at Anthony Mardesich’s camel farm in the Rowsley Valley on Monday November 6.

Rowsey (pronounced Rosie) is the first successful offspring for Mr Mardesich’s business, Melbourne Camel Hire, and is one of 14 camels that live at the 50-acre farm.
“It all happened pretty quick,” Mr Mardesich said.

“The mother was pregnant for 12-months and four days, but once she went into labour, the calf was out in about 20-minutes, and in 45-minutes she was up and drinking”.
Mr Mardesich said the calf, which is named after the Rowsley Valley, is “all legs”.

“She is very cute. The mother is a lovely, quiet camel and she let me and the kids come up close and see the baby”.

Mr Mardesich moved from Hoppers Crossing to the Rowsley Valley with his wife and two sons, aged three and five, in June 2016.
He said the tree change was sparked from an interest in camel milk.

“In 2015 I was at the beach with a friend and we were talking about baby formula being sold out in pharmacies. My friend asked me if I’d heard of camel milk, which I hadn’t, so I looked it up and I think about two-months later I went and bought five camels,” he said.

“At this stage I was still living in a two-bedroom house on a quarter-acre block in Hoppers Crossing. We moved out here and had them as pets and over time it has evolved into the business it is.
“We do school fetes, festivals, activity scenes and any sort of display work. I’m doing an Arabian birthday party in January, it’s all pretty random, but there’s a lot of work for the animals”.
Mr Mardesich said Rowsey would spend the next six-years developing before she was able to work.

“I’ve got camels here that are all in different stages of training. The two that do a lot of the work are 30 and 15-years-old and I’ve got another couple that are pretty much ready to go, but it’s all trust-based training.

“Camels are very, very clever; they learn the wrong thing just as quickly as they do the right thing, so you’ve got to be patient and you’ve got to be careful. When you teach them to sit, you only need to show them five times before they will never forget it”.

As Rowsey settles in to the farm, Mr Mardesich and his family await the birth of two new offspring, due in the next couple of months.
“We are just starting out slowly,” he said.

“I’ve got some lovely young camels which I bought from a dairy in Rochester and they, together with the new calves, are the future for me and my business.

“I got sick of the rat race and this is just a great little family business, which my wife helps out with and hopefully my boys will want to when they’re older, too”.