How much would you be willing to pay for the fastest pigeon? You might be surprised to know that a Chinese millionaire paid almost £300,000 for the fastest pigeon in Europe known as Bolt. The champion bird was auctioned by its Belgian owner Leo Heremans along with his entire stable of 530 racing pigeons. The auctions fetched him a stunning £3.8 million. It was a huge internet auction that attracted almost 300,000 enthusiasts from around the world. Leo Heremans is popularly known as pigeon whisperer as he keeps talking to his birds before a big race. He has been in the business of breeding birds for almost 40 years now.
Leo Heremans Sold His Entire Stable of Birds
Mr. Heremans has practically lived amongst the pigeons but unfortunately developed a virus because of it. That was the reason why he was forced to sell all his birds. The result has made him a millionaire. A lot of hype was built around the auction which resulted in heightened interest and higher prices. Nikolaas Gijselbrecht, a Belgian who runs the world’s biggest pigeon web-site, Pigeon Paradise with more than a million fans, is also surprised with the prices literally going crazy. Yi Manna, chief of the PiPa pigeon auction house which organises sales in Belgium believes that there is a big economic advantage with pigeons that it will produce children and grand children in future who are likely to be equally good.
The Pigeon Had Won the Belgian Sprint Title Last Year
The most expensive pigeon had won the Belgian sprint title last year which put him in the Usain Bolt class and that’s how it got the name Bolt. The current world record price for a single bird was also created in Belgium last year when a pigeon was bought for 250,400 Euros. Leo Heremans was not really into selling pigeons but runs a successful diamond polishing business for a living. However he was stunned to know the amount he was getting for his birds. Pigeon racing sees a lot of trained pigeons being released who fly a measured distance and come back home. A specific breed of pigeons known as Racing Homer is trained for the purpose. Belgium is in a way the center of pigeon racing, breeding and training.
