Robotyczni dżokeje na wyścigach wielbłądów

Robotic jockeys are used to race camels across a desert at high stakes during the winter months. The action took place at a camel racing track in Al Wathba, around 60km from the city of Abu Dhabi. Engineer Souvik Banerjee, 52, said "Here camels arrive at the racing tracks where robot jockeys are tied on the back of the camels. These are used to whip them to keep running. At the start line, there is a canvas gate that lifts up and the camel keepers push the camels to start them running." "Camel racing is a common sport of the locals in UAE and over the Middle East. A huge amount of money is spent on maintaining the camels and also there are large amounts of prize money. It is popular among the locals with a few hundred people in attendance." "For bigger races, the people gathering are in their thousands. My favourite aspect is to capture the dynamism of the people and camels and capture the event from unusual angles. I love to capture the culture and tradition of this place." "There are many camel racing tracks in the desert spread across UAE. The camel keepers are mostly Pakistani nationals with some Bangladeshi nationals also involved. However, the owners are UAE nationals who put in all the money. The races are also covered on TV and a vehicle with a TV camera drives along the race track. The owner of the camels also drive four wheel drive SUV along the camel race track urging and yelling at the camels to run." Please byline: Souvik Banerjee/Solent News © Souvik Banerjee/Solent News & Photo Agency UK +44 (0) 2380 458800