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While teams from across the globe battle it out in football matches, Qatar hosted a camel beauty World Cup- with long-legged beauties strutting their stuff to be named the most attractive.
The event takes place at the Qatar Camel Mzayen Club in Ash-Shahaniyah. Ahead of declaring the winner of the day’s competing category, other female camels were milked and the owner of the one producing the most was rewarded 20,000 Qatari riyals (about $5,500).
However all eyes were on the competition between Maghateer-type camels over the age of four, the day’s competing category.
The winner got a sum of 200,000 Qatari riyals (£45,000) and her owner, Saudi Arabian Mohanna Ibrahim al-Anazi, who also won bronze, was thrilled with his prize. He said: ‘I can’t describe my feelings, because this female has an audience like the audience of the World Cup. Like Real Madrid or Manchester (United). And now, they are all celebrating.’
The event takes place at the Qatar Camel Mzayen Club in Ash-Shahaniyah. Ahead of declaring the winner of the day’s competing category, other female camels were milked and the owner of the one producing the most was rewarded 20,000 Qatari riyals (about $5,500). Pictured: The first place camel in the Maghateer-type group
For the competition, participants come from different Gulf countries and are in different categories dependent on their age and breed. Pictured: Camels during the beauty contest yesterday
For the competition, participants come from different Gulf countries and are in different categories dependent on their age and breed.
As they were paraded through a pen, the audience watched on, eating sweets and drinking coffee.
Before competing in the prestigious event, camels are examined by a medical committee who uses X-rays to avoid fraud and check that the animals have not had any surgical enhancements.
It is a measure that was put in place as some owners give their animals Botox and face lifts to increase their chances of winning and 43 camels were disqualified from a previous event due to this.
As they were paraded through a pen, the audience watched on, eating sweets and drinking coffee. Pictured: A camel yesterday
Before competing in the prestigious event, camels are examined by a medical committee who uses X-rays to avoid fraud and check that the animals have not had any surgical enhancements. Pictured: Camels during the contest yesterday
Hamad Jaber al-Athba, President of the Qatar Camel Mzayen club, said: ‘The idea is similar to the soccer World Cup, we did a camel beauty World Cup. We have participants from the Gulf Cooperation Council, we have big names and today is the fifth day of the tournament.’
He explained that the camels are judged differently according to the groups they are in.
For example, the black camels are judged according to the size of their body and head and the location of their ears.
However, the white Maghateer-type camels are studied on the basis of their proportionality. Their ears should drop down and not stand straight and the way their mouth curves is also looked at.
And in the case of Asel camels, they have special characteristics. Judges look at the location of the ears, a delicacy in their bones and how their hooves appear.
First and third place celebrate on the podium with cheques and trophies after the camel beauty contest, pictured
The black camels are judged according to the size of their body and head and the location of their ears. Camels during the beauty contest, pictured
However, the white Maghateer-type camels are studied on the basis of their proportionality. Their ears should drop down and not stand straight and the way their mouth curves is also looked at. Pictured: A camel is inspected during the beauty contest
Hamad Jaber al-Athba, President of the Qatar Camel Mzayen club explained that the animals are judged differently dependent on the categories they are in. Pictured: Some of the camels
Breeders compete for more than $66 million in prize money during the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, which takes place about 100km northeast of the capital.
Camel owners can sell animals for higher prices after they get the recognition of a cash prize.
The animals are big business in Qatar, with 1.5 million of them protected with microchips.
Breeders compete for more than $66 million in prize money during the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, which takes place about 100km northeast of the capital. Pictured: A camel during the festival
Camel owners can sell animals for higher prices after they get the recognition of a cash prize. Pictured: Yesterday’s first place camel
It comes after the most beautiful camel was crowned in March at the first camel festival in Qatar.
His owner Fahed Farj Algufrani collected the cheque and said it had taken ‘years’ to prepare the prize-winning beast for the beauty contest, which saw hundreds of enthusiastic spectators.
Previous festivals have been more local but Qatar has now allowed camels from across the region, drawing breeders from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with millions of pounds in prizes at stake.
Mangiah Ghufran (pictured) was declared the winner of the £202,500 (one million riyal) cash prize at the first Qatar Camel Festival in the city of Al-Shahaniya in March
His owner Fahed Farj Algufrani collected the cheque and told how it had taken ‘years’ to prepare the prize-winning beast for the beauty contest
Camels have to undergo X-rays and be examined to prove they have not been given cosmetic surgery. Pictured: Camels with their handlers at the Qatar Camel Festival on March 8
But Mangiah’s path to the top spot was not easy as the even-toed ungulate had to undergo X-rays and be examined by vets to prove he had not had cosmetic surgery.
In 2021, 43 camels were disqualified from a Saudi Arabia beauty contest after they were given Botox, face lifts and muscle-boosting hormones to make their lips droopier and their humps more shapely. The procedures can leave the camels with horrific injuries.
Hamad Jaber Al-Athba, the chief festival organiser, said work had been done to stop tampering, which includes the use of Botox and fillers, with the camels being put through X-rays and other monitoring.
‘We had a professional veterinary staff and advanced equipment and we worked to combat tampering and limit the spread of cosmetic materials,’ he said.
‘Corruption was fought seriously at the Qatar Camel Festival.’
To pick winners, the judges consider ‘the size and beauty’ of the head, the length of the neck and the position of the camel’s hump.
‘These are the most important points,’ he said.
Camels with pronounced lips are preferred by judges which has led to the use of Botox by cheaters. Pictured: Camels at the first Qatar Camel Festival on March 8
Cameleers guide their animals during the first Qatar Camel Festival in the city of Al-Shahaniya, around 25 Km northwest of the Qatari capital Doha, on March 8
A cameleer pets a calf during the Qatar Camel Festival, which saw hundreds of spectators arrive to watch
For black camels, the size of its head can be an issue, but for white camels, the consistency of the colour is what counts.
Authorities in Qatar and its neighbours are seeking to give the traditional practice a bigger profile as they compete with mega events such as football’s World Cup and Formula One grands prix.
Al Athba said the festival had been good, drawing Qatar’s growing urban population as well as its desert-dwelling Bedouin.
Footage went viral in August 2021 showing a camel with ruptured lips after it was pumped full of Botox for another Saudi beauty contest.
Thousands of Saudis attend the royal camel festival, which also features races, sales and other festivities typically showcasing thousands of dromedaries.
On a rocky desert plateau, the government has erected a venue to host the headline events such as races and a show competition.
The pavilion features an auction where top camels can be sold for millions of riyals.
There are food stalls and souvenir shops, a petting zoo featuring the world’s tallest and shortest camels and a museum with sand sculptures of camels.
There are also tents for tasting camel’s milk and viewing textiles made of camel hair, and a planetarium showing how Arabs rode the animals through the desert guided by the stars.
This ‘heritage village’ grew due to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who founded the official Camel Club by royal decree in 2017.
The festival seeks to preserve the camel’s role in the kingdom’s Bedouin tradition and heritage, even as the oil-rich country ploughs ahead with modernising mega-projects.
Saudi enthusiasts spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on the animals entered into the contests, with camel breeding being a multi-million-pound industry.
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