Camel Entertainment

Camel Racing

Camel racing takes place on several continents, but the million-dollar Middle Eastern version is not to be missed.  If your curious, check it out: ⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒

 

 

 

 

But camel racing has a dark history.

The lighter the jockey, the faster the camel.  With million-dollar purses on the line, wealthy Middle Eastern sheiks procured their child-jockeys from poor families in the Pakistan – often through the child-trafficking trade.

It wasn’t until 2002 that Pakistan ratified the Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance, banning the trafficking of children to the UAE and other Arab countries.

It was technology that changed the game in the end.  For the high-end races, jockeys were replaced with three kilogram robots, complete with speakers so that the owners could shout instructions and rotating whips in case that didn’t work.

But for the more local competitions, children are still more cost-effective.  And so the smuggling goes on.

Camel Wrestling

You should probably check out this video:

It’s actually a lot like bull sumo.  Which is a lot like regular sumo, only with more hair and horns and spit.

And now to answer all those questions that are bouncing around in your head:

They get the two male camels to fight by leading a female camel in heat around the ring.  For this reason, camel wrestling is historically held during the mating season – November to March.  Lately the government (in Turkey, at least) has been discouraging the use of females for motivation because it makes the males go absolutely nutty and spectators sometimes get hurt.  Instead they basically starve the camels for three months before the tournament to make them irritable.

Middle Eastern Camel Races (courtesy of the BBC)

Camel Dancing (courtesy of Wilderness Films India Ltd)

If you look closely, the owner is pulling strings to make his camel dance.  It still takes an impressive amount of training to get a camel to do this on cue:  The best place to see this in person is in India – specifically Rajasthan.  Check out one of their larger camel fairs.  They’re sure to have a camel race or two as well.

Camel Beauty Contest

You have to be asking yourself this question:  what makes one camel more beautiful than another?

Judge #1: Better muscle tone, prettier adornments and a more elegant tail wag as they strut along a catwalk of rugs. Good teeth are also an asset.

Judge #2: Strength and handsomeness, extra points for tail flapping and good teeth.  The ornaments should fit the animal and the camel should be clean and brushed.

Click here to judge for yourself...

In case you’re laughing – camel beauty pageants are big business.  A single camel in the UAE sold for close to $3 million and one entrant in a beauty contest of 10,000 camels took home $10 million.