Camel Races

To continue our camel racing topic discussion, you must know that camels are very often operated by child jockeys, but allegations of human rights abuses have led to nationwide sanctions with bans on underage labor in the UAE and Qatar. Recent polemic over the enslavement of children has led to increased use of robot-controlled camels. Before 2005, children as young as four are trafficked from countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sudan for use as jockeys in the Persian Gulf States' camel racing industry. While official policies are in place requiring a minimum weight of 45 kg (100 lb) of the jockey, these restrictions are ignored by most in the racing industry.

Terribly, but frequently child camel jockeys are sexually and physically abused; most are physically and mentally stunted, as they are deliberately starved to prevent weight gain. According to a documentary by the American television channel HBO and the Ansar Burney Trust, some of the children are only fed two biscuits a day with water, and forced to work up to 18 hours per day. Many were seriously injured by camels. The child jockeys live in camps (called "ousbah") encircled with barbed wire near the racetracks. Because the children were sold by their families and find themselves in an unfamiliar culture, they are dependent upon their captors for survival. According to the HBO documentary, the person who viewed the camp said it looked more like a prison camp than a home for children. Many are unable to identify their parents or home communities in South Asia or Sudan. Unlike other forms of trafficking that usually involve adults or older children, child camel jockey trafficking presents enormous challenges to source country governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) seeking to return rescued children to their parents and original communities.

A large number of young children have been saved from camel farms in Oman, Qatar and UAE and taken back to their original homes or kept in shelter homes. Countries have issued penalties for those who trafficked child camel jockeys and ordered the owners responsibilities for returning the children back to their home countries. However, they report that in many instances the children rescued were those who had been sold away by their own parents in exchange for money or a job abroad. If they were returned, the children would again be sold for the same purposes. Other children did not speak their native languages, or did not know how to live outside the camel farms.

In early 2005 Qatar came to an agreement to stop using child jockeys. Whereas United Arab Emirates banned Child camel jockeys in 2002. Robot jockeys were used instead at a cost of about $5,500 and a weight of about 26 kg, the robots are remote-controlled by camel trainers who follow the camels in cars. The robots can use whips and can also shout to the camels. The robots must be sprayed with a special "perfume" to allow the camel to accept them as real. Oman followed suit in May 2005. A shelter home was established by the UAE in Abu Dhabi where the rescued children were to receive an education, good food, medical facilities and were to be taught how to live outside a camel farm. As of the end of 2005, it is estimated that as many as 800 children have been sent back to their home countries.

What is more, as a final point to mention, in September 2006, ruler of Dubai and UAE Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and his brother Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum were served with a lawsuit in US district court in Miami, Florida for the enslavement of 30,000 boys in the past three decades for use as camel jockeys, of which only 100 could be accounted for. The suit was filed on behalf of only parents of six victims on the basis of international laws banning slavery and the use of child labor. The case was filed in Miami since the plaintiff lives there.

The majority of people think that camels are just suited for traveling through the desserts and rolling sand dunes, but as you can see they are more versatile than most people would have ever considered. Would you have ever imagined all of the various types of things camels are doing nowadays! As you may have already guessed our site is concerning to camel races. Thus, lets continue the previous post and have a picture of some basics, about the camel racing rules.

Rules governing racing differ in every country. In the UAE, where camel racing takes place from October to April (the coolest time of the year), a race is usually between 25 to 30 registered entrants. Prior to races, trainers and owners gather with their participating animals to decide distances and determine how races are to be handicapped. (Unlike Thoroughbred horse racing, where the handicapper plays an important role, here the trainers decide the distance and the class in which a particular camel races.) Handicapping is mainly based on breed, age, and sex. Courses are laid out over distances that vary depending on the age of the camels, which begin their racing career at two or three years of age and race until they are eight or nine—although an exceptional animal may have a racing life twice that long. Distances range from 2.5 miles (4 km) for younger animals to 6 miles (10 km) for older beasts. Because of the weight difference between male and female camels, they generally race separately, as do geldings and studs. Females are the preferred mount and are raced more often. Once the preliminaries are established, the camels, mounted by lightweight jockeys, are lined up, and the competition begins. As have been already discussed, a mature racing camel can reach speeds of 20–25 miles (32–40 km) per hour at a gallop. Furthermore, after a race, to rule out any dishonesty, urine samples are collected and tested for the presence of prohibited substances. For additional information, note that each camel is identified by coded microchip, which is implanted in the neck.

Camel Racing is a very popular traditional sport in the Arab States and Australia, it is a sport that involves running camels at speed, with a rider astride, over a predetermined course. Professional camel racing, like horse racing, is an event for betting and tourist attraction. Camels can run at speeds up to 64.4 km/h (18 m/s; 40 mp/h) in short sprints and they can maintain a speed of 40km/h (11 m/s; 25 mp/h) for an hour.

Typically, camels are used as a means of transportation and are reared for their meat, milk, and hides. And what's interesting, camel racing is as old as history itself. On the Arabian Peninsula, the native habitat of the dromedary, it can be traced to at least the early Islamic period, in the 7th century ad. Although traditionally overshadowed by horse racing in that region—the peninsula is home to the Arabian horse—the racing of camels was long a folk sport practiced by the local population at social gatherings and festivals.

What's special about this, the tradition of impromptu and informal competition continued in Arabia and in some other places until the final three decades of the 20th century, when interested parties began to organize camel racing into a formal sport, similar to that established for Thoroughbred horse racing. Organizations were established to govern and control camel racing events and to formulate rules and regulations. In countries as diverse as Kenya, The Sudan, Egypt, India, and Australia—but particularly in the Arab countries of the Middle East—the sport became extremely popular, spawning its own training, breeding, and research industries.

As for today, Camels are in particular way raised for the track, using carefully controlled methods of breeding, training, and nutrition. Special artificial insemination and embryo transfer techniques are used for crossbreeding select lineages. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is the centre of camel racing in the Middle East, sophisticated training methods, such as working animals on treadmills and in swimming pools, are used to prepare racing camels for competition, and the local government encourages breeding programs and provides subsidies to camel owners and breeders. A well-bred racing camel with an excellent track record can sell for a high price.

Camel racing has come to be accepted as a serious international sport and a great well-liked tourist attraction. Events draw participants from all over the World, and of races receive handsome prizes, as well as large cash awards. What is more, in those Arab countries that are the sport’s core participants, such events reflect the cultural background of the local society. Traditional costumes and rituals are displayed, and the entire day of racing culminates in celebrations that evoke the customs of local peoples. These get-togethers assist keep local customs and folklore alive, especially for the younger generation, in a region that nowadays is modernizing and developing very speedily.