The annual Camel Wrestling Festival in Selcuk, Turkey, takes place in January every year. Two (male) bulls are gathered together in the neighbourhood with a female camel. The camels are fighting over the woman, straining on each other to drive the other down. Camel wrestling is a sport that two male tülu camels fight for the heat of a female camel. In Turkey’s Egean, it is most prevalent, but also in the Mediterranean and Marmara regions. In Turkey, there are approximately 1200 camel wrestlers (or Tulus), raised especially for the contests.
History
Camel fight began around 2,400 years ago amongst ancient Turkish tribes. Camels wrestle also in the wild, therefore the practise was place in the beginning before the nomads structured it. In the 1850s, the fame of Camel Wrestling in Turkey inspired an American military officer and built up a Camel Wrestling tower in Texas. But partly because of the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861 it was ineffective.
In the 1920s, Camel fought for the Government of Turkey to buy aviations from the Turkish National Aviation League as fundraisers. However, in the 1920s, the Turkish Government began to deter practise, which it described as excessively antiquated. In the 1980s, the new Turkish government initiated competitions in the historical Turkish culture. Camel wrestling was also popular at the show Lahore Horse & Cattle, but was dropped from the programme, since it was considered to be too ferocious for the Queen during her visit to Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1961.
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Camel Wrestling Festival
Camel wrestling competitions are purely Turkish, with Spanish and Italian cockfights on a level with. Although guardians of animal rights are against such competitions, they are not violent and are known as natural impulses. During the match season, the contests are held in the wintertime. In the middle of the rink a couple of bulls are placed and there is a beautiful cow in front of them. When a woman is watching, her mouth and nose are evident immediately from her white, viscous saliva. Suddenly angry men are turned into pure rivals.
In the camel wrestling festival, the combat usually continue a few minutes, until the stronger the weaker wrestles down to the ground or when the latter cries or simply laps away into the throng. In the event that something goes wrong and both camels are too strong to give in, a number of helpers always look at them in the immediate vicinity ready for separation. It makes sure that the animals are safe and healthy.
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How to Get there and When?
Camel wrestling festival takes place in the Pamucak Beach near Ephesus / Selçuk.. You may grab a minibus or a taxi to the area of Wrestling, about 7 kilometres from the settlement of Selcuk. Thousands of spectators have been attracted annually by camel wrestling championships. Usually the festival promotes the 120 camel wrestling, but only 96 were present in 2001. The annual Camel Wrestling Festival in Selcuk, Turkey, takes place in January every year.