Unrealistic beauty standards aren’t limited to humans

Dozens of camels have been banned from a beauty contest in Saudi Arabia after a crackdown on Botox injections and other artificial touch-ups.

40 dromedary contestants were booted from the competition for the use of illegal beautification tactics.

The King Abdulaziz Camel Festival is a month-long camel fest held in the desert northeast of the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Judges at the event are now using ‘specialised and advanced’ technology to crack down on any artificial enhancements to these visually appealing mammals, in a bid to make the contest fairer for entrants.

If, like me, you were wondering why it is that people are whacking cosmetic injectables into their camels to win a pageant, the answer is $90 million (AED 33m) in prize money that’s on offer for winners.

Breeders have been accused of using Botox injections, face-lifts and other cosmetic procedures to make their camels more attractive.

Jurors usually select the prettiest camel based on the shape of its head, neck, humps, dress and posture.

But this year there was an influx of illegalities, including stretched lips and noses on camels, hormone injections to make them beefier and Botox to inflate the heads and lips.

Breeders have also used elastic bands to inflate body parts and fillers to make the camels look ‘more relaxed’.

A Saudi Press Agency (SPA) report said strict penalties has been imposed to stop the ‘beautification of camels’ and the club was determined to keep all these shonky breeders out of the event.

The beauty contest is just part of The King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, which also features races, sales and other festivities, with thousands of camels (and I assume humans) attending each year.

It’s a traditional event that is celebrated as a way of preserving the history behind the camel’s role in the Bedouin tradition.

Camel breeding is also a multimillion-dollar industry, which probably explains why it’s so worth it for a breeder to take a chance on whacking a rubber band on their camel.

This isn’t even the first time the festival has been caught up in the scandalous world of camel beautification.

In 2018, 12 camels were disqualified after it was discovered they had been injected with Botox.

At the time, a report even found a vet was performing surgery to make the camels prettier, including reducing the size of their ears.

Source: Agencies