A camel beauty contest in Saudi Arabia has been rocked by scandal after 12 ships of the desert were disqualified because their owners had used Botox on them.

Prize money for the Miss Camel contest runs into millions of pounds, making the temptation to cheat irresistible for some.

The competition is part of a month-long festival celebrating the camel held in Rumah, some 160 kilometres east of Riyadh.

It aims to reflect aspects of Saudi heritage and includes a petting zoo featuring the world's tallest and shortest camels, a museum with life-size sand sculptures of camels and tents for tasting camel's milk.

Competitors in the beauty contest are rated on, amongst other things, the size of their lips and cheeks, which is where the illicit use of Botox comes in.


Although the rewards for winning are great, a truly beautiful camel does not come cheap.

""Only people who have the financial ability can compete on the rare and beautiful camels," said head judge Fawzan al-Madi.

"They pay prices up to seven million riyals (£1.3m) or even more, I do not want to exaggerate.

"But it depends on how rare the camel is. The rarer the camel is, the more the competing bidders are, the higher the price becomes."