More than forty camels were expelled from Saudi Arabia’s annual camel festival, after their owners beautified them with cosmetic treatments – so that they could win the beauty contest that is currently taking place.
The festival, which takes place throughout the month in the desert northeast of the capital Riyadh, hosts camel breeders from all over the world but mainly from the Gulf region, competing for the most beautiful camel title, a title that entitles its owner to a cash prize worth about $ 66 million.
The camel breeding industry rolls in many millions, and similar festivals are held in other countries as well, such as the UAE.
Saudi Camel Festival (Photo: Shutterstock)
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The winner is announced by a panel of judges, based on the camel’s body shape, its posture, and sometimes also the festive attire in which it appears.
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However, the festival’s organizers, who work for the Saudi government, found that some of the contestants perform cosmetic treatments on camels, such as Botox injections and various plastic surgeries, in order to ‘beautify’ the camels nominated for the competition.
As part of the war on this phenomenon, the participation of more than forty camels in the competition was banned, the government news agency SPA updated.
“The club is determined to stop all acts of sabotage and fraud in the camel bequest,” the agency said in a report, adding that the organizers “would impose severe penalties on the manipulators.”