Camel wrestling (Turkish deve güreşi) is a sport in which two male Tülü camels wrestle, typically in response to a female camel in heat being led before them. Lately, Female camel rarely used to heat camels during camel wrestling festivals.
Camel Wrestling festivals are most common in the Aegean region of Turkey, but camel wrestling is also practiced in other parts of the Middle East and South Asia.
Camel fighting originated among ancient Turkic tribes over 2400 years ago.[1][2][3] Camels also wrestle in the wild, so the practice occurred naturally before it was first organized by nomads.[4]
In the 1920s the Turkish National Aviation league held Camel fights as fundraisers in order to purchase planes for the Government of Turkey.[5]
Yet, later the government of Turkey began discouraging the practice in the 1920s, because it was thought it was backwards of a practice.
In the 1980s, the new government of Turkey began encouraging the competitions as part of Turkey's historic culture.[6]
In the past camels were used as transport, pack, ride, war, food, and sport animal by Turks. Since 20 century, After industrialization and construction of efficient road system, camels lost their importance and nowadays they are only a sport and tourism material in Turkey.
Thus the camel population in Turkey decreased to 808 in 2003. Nowadays the number is 1.315 according to data of 2012. The camel population is mostly used for camel wrestling events in Western Anatolia.[7]
The events have historically been held during mating season.[4]
The camels fight by using their necks as leverage to force their opponent to fall down. A camel is declared the winner if his competitor falls to the ground or flees from the fight.[8]
Most fighting camels are bred in Iran or Afghanistan.[4][1] A successful camel can be sold for over $20,000.[8]
Camels are not native to Turkey and more expensive in Turkey. Camels are valued between 50.000-100.000$ and additionally each camel consumes 5 tons of animal feed yearly. In Turkey, 61 % of the camel owners attend camel wrestling matches to uphold their family traditions. [7][9][3]
In Turkey, the camel wrestling events are organized about in 60-70 places annually during winter season when camels are in heat season. Wrestling events are followed by not only men spectators but also women and children. Because of this side, camel wrestling events is a family sport.
Unlike Turkey, camels are fought in Afghanistan and Pakistan sometimes without 'havut' (packsaddle) and muzzling. In Turkey, camels are not fought buy wrestled by applying havut and muzzling. [7] In Turkey, every camel is required fitted with a muzzler to prevent them from biting each other during the wrestling, while their handlers stand nearby to separate camels with ropes and sticks if they become too violent.[3]
There are roughly hundred annual festivals in Aegean Turkey each year from November to March. Roughly one 40-100 camels take part in these events, and each camel allowed to attend one match per festival. Wrestling matches have time limit of Events always occur on Sundays in football stadiums and typically last ten minutes each.[4][10] [9]
Selcuk camel wrestling festival takes place on the third Sunday of every year which the best camels compete.[4][9] Camel wrestling festivals are usually attended by mostly local families with very few tourists.
Several animal rights organizations have criticized the practice, characterizing it as cruelty to animals.[6]