Belgian racing pigeon fetches record price of $1.9 million
halle — New Kim is worth her weight in gold and then some — actually much, much more.
A wealthy Chinese pigeon racing fan put down a world record price of 1.6 million euros ($1.9 million) for the Belgian-bred bird, saying a lot more than merely what kind of money can be made in the once-quaint sport, which seemed destined to decline only a few years back.
During a frantic last half hour Sunday at the end of a two-week auction, two Chinese bidders operating under the pseudonyms of Super Duper and Hitman drove up the price by 280,000 euros ($325,000), leaving the previous record that Belgian-bred Armando fetched last year well behind by 350,000 euros ($406,000). Super Duper got the 3-year-old hen.
It was proof again that an ageold hobby in Western Europe identified with working-class men now has a new, elitist foreign lease on life. Top breeders relying on generations of family experience can now sell their birds for prices unheard of merely a decade ago, and often China is their destination.
On this occasion, successful breeder Gaston Van de Wouwer retired at 76 and his son had too busy a professional life to continue the famed pigeon coop. All 445 birds were put on auction and the overall sale was closing in on 5 million euros. A second part of the auction is ending on Monday, but did not include any bird that could match New Kim.
Belgians have long stood out as the best breeders, both because of their generations-long experience and the density of a network where many breeders can organise races close together. It’s not a short-term endeavour, however, since becoming expert at genetic breeding with the constant mixing and mating of birds takes years, if not decades. Birds can live up to 15 years.
“Everybody is interested in our pigeons,” Pascal Bodengien, head of the Belgian pigeon federation, said.
Only a decade ago, the record price for a pigeon stood at one-tenth of New Kim’s price. And the current price of gold stands about 26,000 euros ($30,350) per pound. —