Camel Fighting
Camel wrestling has been an activity during the winter months in Turkey & several other countries for a very long time.
It began at a time when Turkey had a large population of nomadic people around 1000 years ago who moved their flocks & herds around the country for grazing. Pitching camels against each other would have provided them with income, entertainment & community.
The wrestling became a tradition which has now become a lucrative sporting event with many events held all over the country attracting many spectators. Prizes are available to the owners of the winning camels which include trophies & money. And, of course the more fights a camel wins the more valuable he becomes. A prize fighting bull can fetch up to two million lira.
Large numbers of camels compete at these events where two bulls are pitched against each other. They take place in the winter months when females are receptive to mating. She will be kept in the area to encourage the bulls to fight for her as they would in the wild. But this is not a camels natural environment & often camels are sometimes reluctant to engage. Sticks & ropes are used to agitate them in to action when needed. When asked about the use of sticks we are told that they are used to control a camel should they become too aggressive.
The camels are muzzled to stop them from biting. They foam at the mouth in response to a female in the vicinity, as a show of dominance to other camels & when they become agitated.
A fight will last for a short time and involve the camels pushing against each other with their necks & heads. A winner is declared when the opponent falls down, screams or runs away.
Fighting camel owners tell us that do not make any money from events as the cost of keeping a camel outweighs any rewards they get from victories in the ring. If that is the case I can’t help but wonder what the motivation is. Pride in communities perhaps? Prestige?
I wondered how fighting camels spent their time when they were away from the ring.
This fighting camel lives in Aydin on a farm. As you can see he is restrained by the head & the leg & lives in a barren building with concrete floors.
Some camels also wear hobbles, devices which prevent mobility when attached to the camels legs.
We have been told that there are camel farmers who collect camel urine & sell it to those who drink it, believing it has health promoting qualities. I am unable to comment on this claim as I have no data to prove or disprove it. But that doesn’t stop the folks who sell it advertising it as a medicinal product. It fetches around £40 a litre which is quite a lot of money when you look at the average monthly wage earned in Turkey.
I wondered what happens to bull camels who consistently lose fights & am told that they are slaughtered for meat.
Pretty much every part of the camel is used, there is nothing wasted. Camel sausages are sold at the fighting festivals & are a popular snack with spectators.
I have to say I personally find the sight of a camel being led in to the fighting ring passing by kiosks heavily laden with camel meat quite unpalatable but I suspect the camels are unaware, I don’t know.
Very recently two gentlemen arrived at the shelter project with their camels looking to adopt one of the donkeys.
Needless to say they left empty handed.
