Cairo: A camel has fetched SR1.7 million at an auction reportedly held in a Saudi city, according to footage circulated on social media.
The video shows an auctioneer announcing on a microphone price bids for the camel displayed inside an enclosure.
Competition for winning the animal was apparently fierce until the winning bidder, whose name was not disclosed, offered SR1.7 million.
Social media reports said the auction had taken place in Buraidah city in north-central Saudi Arabia without specifying its date. The video or the reports could not be independently verified by Gulf News.
It is not clear yet if the price was the highest offered for a camel at a Saudi auction.
Camels are a popular animal closely linked to heritage in Saudi Arabia.
The animal has long been dubbed as the “ship of the desert”, being the lifeline for desert dwellers.
In recent years, the camel business has remarkably grown in the king-dom.
Saudi Arabia annually hosts the King Abdul Aziz Camel Festival, the world’s such biggest pageant.
There are around 1.8 million camels with a market value of over SR50 billion in Saudi Arabia, according to official figures.
