Camel Wrestling
If your holiday coincides with the Camel Wrestling season during the winter months, do not be alarmed. Camel Wrestling is a spectator sport. No one gets hurt and that includes the camels.

As a possible extension of the Roman period animal fights, today, there are many annual camel-wrestling festivals especially in the Aegean region. These festivals are held in winter, from December through March. A few weeks in advance they are announced to the public and hundreds of wrestler camels are brought to the place from great distances. On the day of the fight and particularly in the morning, they are dressed in very beautiful and colorful decorative cloths.

Wrestler camels belong to a special breed called t�l�. They are only bred to wrestle and never used for other purposes. Camels are put in pairs. In order to excite the camels, an attractive female camel is paraded out of reach of the suitors. Two excited camels meet and within a few minutes start wrestling with each other. They start foaming at their mouths. Kneeling, rolling to the ground or running away from the arena are causes of defeat. There is a team of referees with different responsibilities during wrestling. There is also a team of ropers who are supposed to separate tangled camels when necessary.

The wrestling continues all day long and the owners of winners collect cash prizes.