The beauty of a camel
Photo by Hind Mezaina taken in Petra, Jordan.
I heard this report about a camel beauty contest that ended a few days ago at Al-Dhafra Festival in Abu Dhabi. This contest has been going on for past three years and I never knew much about it till now. I had no idea the amount of rigorous judging that went on and that millions of dollars was at stake.
18 sections of the camel's body are looked at including posture, teeth, lips, nose, hump, ear, nose, neck, eyes and head. The head is the most important part in the judging (how I wish the same was applied to the beauty contest that happens in the world of humans like Miss World, Miss Universe).
The camels are split into two pools, the Asayil breed from the U.A.E. and Oman, the lighter coloured ones and the Majaheem breed from Saudi Arabia, which are black-skinned.
The best part of this competition is the oath the camel owners have to take at the start of the competition.
I swear by Almighty God that this camel is rightfully mine and that it is not mix-breed, according to the best of my knowledge. Source CNN
I wonder if the camels go through any anxieties or if there is any back stage bickering or sabotaging amongst the camel owners. I wonder if the mixed breed camels feel marginilised and if they throw their own underground parties and pageants. I might have to attend next year's competition to find out.