Camels spotted wandering onto a highway in southern Israel. Photo: Screenshot

The Israel Police said it receives about 1,000 complaints every year about stray camels making their way onto highways in Israel’s arid southern region, local blog 0404 News reported on Tuesday. In all, 7,151 incidents were reported since 2008.

Police also said there have been 73 car accidents as a result of collisions with stray animals, although they said in all of these incidents only once was the owner of the stray animal identified, according to the report.

According to 0404, two people were killed about a year ago in a car accident after smashing into a camel that had wandered onto the road. A Kibbutz Retamim resident died from injuries in a car crash with a camel last Hanukkah, and another man from the Yakhini moshav died just a month after in a similar accident.

In 2004, a whole family was wiped out after smashing into a camel that had walked onto the highway — two parents and their four- and 8-year-old children.

Earlier this month, two IDF soldiers were arrested by military police after they filmed themselves firing an army-registered firearm at a camel on the side of the road near the Dead Sea.