Camels are paraded during a beauty contest at the annual King Abdulaziz Camel Festival in Rumah, some 160 kilometres east of Riyadh, on January 19, 2018. Organisers of the festival -- with 30,000 participating camels -- are cracking down on cosmetic enhancements, a malpractice that has thrived amid stiff competition and despite strong penalties as some stake millions on acquiring top breeds. / AFP PHOTO / FAYEZ NURELDINE.
AL RUMHIYA (Saudi Arabia): Huddled together on a dusty racetrack, Saudi judges scrutinise pouty lips and shapely humps in a high-stakes camel beauty pageant mired in scandal after botox and cosmetic fillers were detected.
Some 14 camels have been disqualified from the month-long King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, an annual bedouin tradition supported by the Saudi royal family that lures breeders from around the Gulf with prize money of up to $57mil (RM222mil).
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