沙特43頭駱駝因整容取消選美比賽資格

In an attempt to keep artificially-enhanced camels out of official beauty pageants, Saudi authorities recently disqualified 43 camels over the use of Botox and other cosmetic procedures.

選美比賽將整容駱駝拒之門外。因注射肉毒桿菌和使用其他醫(yī)美手段，43頭駱駝近日被沙特官方取消參加選美比賽的資格。

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Camel Festival is one of the several annual events that features a camel beauty pageant. These sort of competitions is such a big deal that some breeders reportedly resort to Botox injections and other cosmetic touchups to make their animals prettier. The Saudi Press Agency recently reported that over 40 camels were disqualified from this year’s King Abdulaziz Camel Festival pageant because of Botox injections and other cosmetic procedures.

阿卜杜勒-阿齊茲國王駱駝節(jié)是沙特阿拉伯幾個一年一度的駱駝選美活動之一。這類比賽在沙特阿拉伯是大事，據報道，一些飼養(yǎng)者為了讓駱駝更漂亮，會給它們注射肉毒桿菌和使用其他醫(yī)美手段。沙特新聞社近日報道稱，超過40頭駱駝因注射肉毒桿菌和其他醫(yī)美手段而被取消今年阿卜杜勒-阿齊茲國王駱駝節(jié)的參賽資格。

Apparently, Botox is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the illegal use of cosmetic intervention for camel beauty pageants. Using collagen lip fillers, artificially increasing the animals’ muscles with hormones, and inflating body parts with rubber bands have all been documented in the past.

顯然，注射肉毒桿菌只是駱駝選美比賽中的眾多非法醫(yī)美手段之一。過去還出現過給駱駝使用膠原蛋白豐唇，用激素讓駱駝肌肉更發(fā)達，用塑料圈來塑造身體部位。

The use of cosmetics by camel breeders has become such a big problem in recent years that competition organizers have had to adopt “specialized and advanced” technology to detect any unauthorized tampering with the animals.

近年來，飼養(yǎng)者給駱駝整容已成為令人頭疼的問題，比賽組織者不得不采用“專業(yè)和先進”的技術來檢測未經許可美化駱駝容貌的行為。

To ensure that the natural beauty of the camel is preserved, the animals are checked both physically and clinically before the pageant, using X-ray machines and sonar devices. Offenders risk fines as high as 100,000 riyals per camel for procedures like Botox or hormone injections.

為了確保駱駝的自然美得以保存，在比賽前，組織者會用X光機和聲納設備對駱駝進行身體檢查和臨床檢查。給駱駝注射肉毒桿菌素或激素的違法者可能被處以每頭駱駝高達10萬沙特里亞爾（約合人民幣17萬元）的罰款。

Camel breeding is big business in the Middle East, and good placing at beauty pageants can have seriously beneficial implications for the owners. And then there is the prize money. This year breeders at the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival are competing for about $66 million.

駱駝養(yǎng)殖在中東是一項大生意，在駱駝選美比賽中取得好成績對飼養(yǎng)者是非常有利的。而且比賽還設有獎金。今年，阿卜杜勒·阿齊茲國王駱駝節(jié)的飼養(yǎng)員們將共同競爭約6600萬美元（約合人民幣4.2億元）的獎金。