No, seriously…they get Botox. And that’s not all:
The annual contest has been moved from its previous venue in the desert to the outskirts of the capital Riyadh, where a jury rates tens of thousands of camels based on their appearance. The event is part of a big festival that celebrates the animal, which symbolizes Bedouin life in the desert.
“The camel is a symbol of Saudi Arabia,” the chief judge of the show, Fawzan al-Madi, said as news that twelve camels were kicked out of the competition broke, Reuters reported. “We used to preserve it out of necessity, now we preserve it as a pastime.”
With a prize money total of around $57 million, it is no surprise that around 30,000 camels have been entered in the show, but the month-long event has already run into controversy.
Mo’ money, mo’ problems, amirite?
But seriously: $57 million, US, in prizes. For CAMELS. The world has truly lost perspective. And in light of that, I guess camels with artificially big heads and botoxed, flubbery lips are just something to be expected.