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An unidentified Chinese buyer on Sunday paid a world record 1.6 million euros ($ 1.9 million, just over 29 million rand) for a female carrier pigeon named New Kim, online auctioneers Pigeon Paradise said. (PIPE).
The sale exceeded the 1.25 million euros paid for the Armando male pigeon last year, according to PIPA.
New Kim, a well-behaved two-eared boy from a famous Antwerp loft, was put up for auction for just 200 euros.
“I think it’s a world record, there has never been an officially documented sale at that price,” PIPA president Nikolaas Gyselbrecht told AFP.
“I didn’t think we could get to that amount.”
The buyer, who was not identified, “will probably want to raise her,” he added.
New Kim won the 2018 crown as “Ace Pigeon Grand National Middle Distance” in competitions held in Châteauroux and Argenton-sur-Creuse in France.
The best European birds have gained worldwide fame in recent years and particularly in China, where pigeon racing can generate huge profits.
Wealthy buyers from the Gulf and Asia have driven up prices for champion birds for their instinctive ability to fly hundreds of kilometers (miles) and still find their way home.
The fantasy of pigeons has its roots in Belgian and Dutch life and the tradition extends to northern France.
The sport had been considered in decline until auctions began to show serious prices for potential champions and proven winners.
Gyselbrecht said Belgium alone has 20,000 race bird breeders destined to participate in major competitions.
New Kim was trained by father and son Gaston and Kurt Van De Wouwer in their world-class loft in Berlaar, near Antwerp. They sold their entire “collection” of pigeons on Sunday.
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