Story highlights The Al-Dhafra Camel Festival features a beauty contest for purebred camels

The animals are rated on criteria including posture, neck length and ear firmness

The event is intended to preserve aspects of Bedouin cultural heritage

It draws camel owners from many other countries throughout the region

A dusty track in the remote western region of the United Arab Emirates is one of the last places you'd expect to find a beauty pageant.

But the leggy, doe-eyed lovelies on parade here are of the four-legged variety.

The Al-Dhafra Camel Festival is a celebration of the ancient bond between humans and the "ships of the desert," which have traditionally provided Bedouins with food, clothing and transportation.

The highlight of the event, which draws more than 1,500 camel owners and 25,000 camels from all over the Arabian Peninsula to Al-Dhafra, about 150km west of Abu Dhabi, is the camel beauty contest.

The judges in this high-stakes contest rate the animals -- the females of which are considered better looking -- on criteria including firmness of ear, straightness of leg and the size of their toe cleft.

Photos: The UAE's camel beauty pageant Photos: The UAE's camel beauty pageant Head turners – The Al-Dhafra Camel Festival in the western region of the United Arab Emirates is a celebration of the ancient bond between humans and the "ships of the desert." Hide Caption 1 of 5 Photos: The UAE's camel beauty pageant Head turners – The event is intended to help preserve purebred camel lines of the region, including the light-skinned asayal, pictured here. Hide Caption 2 of 5 Photos: The UAE's camel beauty pageant Head turners – Men prepare a dark-brown majaheem camel for exhibition while its fellow competitors look on. The animals are rated according to criteria including firmness of ear, straightness of leg, the size of their toe cleft and neck length. Hide Caption 3 of 5 Photos: The UAE's camel beauty pageant Head turners – With considerable prestige is attached to owning a prize-winning camel, camel owners come from all over the region to attend. Hide Caption 4 of 5 Photos: The UAE's camel beauty pageant Head turners – The festival is intended as a way of preserving aspects of Bedouin cultural heritage that face the threat of being lost as the Emirates continues to rapidly modernize. Hide Caption 5 of 5

"The big size of the bones, the big foot, the height of the camel, the neck," explains Shakhboot Al-Dosari, one of the judges, listing the most desirable attributes. "The smoother the neck the better, the longer the neck the better."

It's a job he takes seriously, as the spoils of victory can be significant.

The festival is an important auction market for purebred camels, and as well as commanding high prices, award-winning specimens can confer immense prestige on their owners.

Nasser Al-Hajri, a wealthy Saudi oil contractor who has been a devoted collector of the animals for the past decade, is prepared to pay top dollar for the right camel.

"It's a competition between tribes," he explains of the hump-backed status symbols. "I want... the best camel to be owned by me."

He paid nearly $2.5 million for four-year-old Gaooda, voted one of the most beautiful.

"I love it. It is number one here, it is not number two," he says.

The festival's organizers say it is an important way to protect the purebred camel lines of the region -- the light-skinned asayal, and the darker brown majaheem.

More broadly, explains festival director Salem Al Mazrouei, it is also a way of preserving aspects of Bedouin cultural heritage that might otherwise be lost in a rapidly modernizing country.

According to the rules laid down in the festival program, owners are required to swear religious oaths that the stated age and lineage of their animals is correct.

As well as the beauty contest and auctions, the festival also has contests in traditional pursuits such as camel racing, camel milking, falconry and date packaging. There is also racing of purebred Arabian salukis, the slender sight-hound that is one of the world's most ancient breeds of domesticated dog, as well as handicrafts displays.

While the SUV has replaced the camel as a means of transportation in the modern Emirates, it's clear the animal retains an important place in the nation's heart.

"The camels helped our grandparents in the past," says Al Mazrouei. "Nowadays, we would like to give back to the camels and to absorb our culture."