Dozens of camels have been disqualified from a Saudi beauty contest over Botox injections.
In the biggest ever crackdown on banned beauty treatments for the animals ahead of a contest, authorities have banned 40 entrants from the 2021 event.
This year, dozens of breeders had reportedly stretched out the lips and noses of camels, used hormones to boost the beasts' muscles, injected their heads and lips with Botox to make them bigger.
Some had even inflated body parts with rubber bands and used fillers to relax their faces.
Many are believed to have had Botox injections or other artificial touch-ups.
The King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, which kicked off earlier this month, sees breeders of the most beautiful of the animals enter their camels to compete.
The contest seeks to preserve the camel's role in the kingdom's Bedouin tradition and heritage, even as the oil-rich country ploughs ahead with modernising mega-projects.
A panel then decides the winner based on the shape of the camels' heads, necks, humps, dress and postures, reports 9News.
However, Botox injections, face lifts and other cosmetic surgeries to enhance their look are banned.
Judges are now clamping down on those who break the rules - with new "specialised and advanced" technology to detect tampering.
The Saudi Press Agency said: "The club is keen to halt all acts of tampering and deception in the beautification of camels."
