Camel beauty contest in chaos after judges notice they’ve had botox

More than 40 camels in a Saudi Arabian beauty contest were disqualified after judges found that some breeders were injecting botox into the animals’ faces to make them more visually appealing.

In a report from the Associated Press, dozens of camels in the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival were removed from the competition after judges found cosmetic enhancements in their faces.

The augmentations, including facelifts and Botox injections, are not allowed because judges evaluate camels’ humps, posture, heads and necks when deciding on the winner.

The Botox in the camels’ faces was identified using "specialized and advanced" technology, according to the AP, citing a statement from the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The SPA suggested that breeders expanded the camels’ facial features, administered Botox to grow their heads and lips, and injected fillers to relax their facial muscles.

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"The club is keen to halt all acts of tampering and deception in the beautification of camels," they said.

They also added that adding that organizers would invoke "strict penalties" on those augmenting the camels.

Media platform Al Arabiya News said that the contest awards "grand prizes exceeding $66m."

This isn’t the first time camels got disqualified in a beauty contest.

In 2018, The Guardian noted that 12 camels were disqualified for receiving injections in their lips, upper and lower lips, jaws and noses.

During that time, Ali al-Mazrouei, the son of an Emirati camel breeder, told The National the following about the injections:

"It makes the head more inflated, so when the camel comes, it’s like, ‘Oh, look at how big that head is. It has big lips, a big nose.’"

The competition is part of the camel festival that began on December 1 and will end on January 12, 2022.

A total of 33,000 camels are expected to participate in the event.