Over 40 camels were disqualified from an annual beauty pageant for the animals in Saudi Arabia. Organisers said 27 contestants in King Abdulaziz Camel Festival were disqualified for stretched body parts and 16 were ejected for having received Botox injections, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The 40-day festival, which kicked off on December 1 in Saudi capital Riyadh, carries a prize money of $66 million. Participants are competing in 19 categories of the competition for all six primary colors in camels. 

The crackdown on botox injections, face lifts and other cosmetic enhancements has been intensified with the use of “specialized and advanced” technology. Jurors decide the winner based on the shape of the camels’ heads, necks, humps, dress and postures.

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Judges discovered dozens of breeders had stretched out the lips and noses of camels, used hormones to boost the animals’ muscles, injected their heads and lips with Botox to make them bigger, inflated body parts with rubber bands and used fillers to relax their faces.

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SPA quoted the organisers of the pageant, the Camel Club, as saying that they were “keen to halt all acts of tampering and deception in the beautification of camels” and promising to “impose strict penalties on manipulators.”

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The festival is the largest in the world, drawing some 33,000 camel owners from countries as far US, Russia and France.

As many as 100,000 tourists are also expected every day at the 32 sq km festival site, located about 100 kilometres northeast of Riyadh, according to local media.

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The official spokesman for the camel club in Saudi Arabia, Muhammad Al-Harbi revealed that women will participate for the first time in this year’s camel festival. The festival also includes various leisure and cultural activities to present it as a global carnival offering approximately 5,000 jobs.