Until now, I’ve only heard of pigeons being used as messengers. News flash: Belgian-bred pigeons are known to be the fastest pigeons around and are used for racing! Bolt, the fastest pigeon globally, was recently sold at an auction for 310,000 euros (£260,000, $400,000) to a Chinese businessman. That’s the highest a racing bird has ever been sold for. The bird had won a title – Belgian sprint – last year, grading him as a Usain Bolt class – a title acquired from the world’s fastest man.
Bolt, along with 529 other racing pigeons, belonged to a Belgian entrepreneur Leo Heremes, nick-named the ‘pigeon whisperer’ because of his habit of talking to his birds before a big race. Leo had to, unfortunately, auction away his birds due to a virus he developed through constant contact with the pigeons.
However, owing to the returns he got by selling all 530 pigeons – a whopping $5.8 million, we are sure Leo would be a happy man. Indeed he was, more astonished than happy. Even Pipa, the auction house, was “stunned by the prices offered”.
