A two-year-old racing pigeon from Belgium named New Kim, has recently been crowned the world’s most expensive pigeon after a South African collector, Samuel Lofts bid a whopping 1.3 million euros ($1.5 million, N571 million) in an online auction.
Hok Van De Wouwer, a renowned pigeon breeder in Antwerp, Belgium recently put its entire collection of racing pigeons on sale this month.
The breeder and his son, Kurt Van De Wouwer have an enviable resume among pigeon breeders, winning numerous national ace pigeon titles and 1st place at nationals.
It is therefore no surprise that their birds are highly sought after in the still ongoing online auction.
Nevertheless, it was expected that the two year-old female pigeon would become the star of the show by breaking the world record for most expensive pigeon.
In just one and a half hours after the auction went live on Pipa Piegon Paradise website last Monday, New Kim already had 226 bids, with the highest one topping 1.3 million euros.
With four days left to go in the auction, it’s already the most expensive pigeon ever, surpassing a record set by another Belgian specimen named Armando, for which a Chinese collector paid 1,252,000 euros (N562 million) in 2019.
The auction officially ends on November 15, so a new bid could still exceed the record bid of the South African, although it is unlikely.
There is a small chance that the bid could be retracted, but the organizer requires a deposit of 20% of the total bid sum, when it exceeds 500,000 euros (N224 million), so in this case Samuel Lofts would lose 300,000 euros (N134 million), if he retracts his bid.
New Kim’s record in races is nothing short of exceptional, and it has an impressive pedigree, but experts say that buyers – who could be the South African collector – pay such exorbitant prices for special specimens not to use them in races, but for breeding.
Truly, the risk of losing the bird during competitions, is much too great, and selling the bird’s offspring is much more profitable.
Due to the exceptionally high bid, New Kim is reportedly being guarded by a security company, to ensure that nothing happens until it enters the possession of its new owner.
Wow.. It is actually a beautiful creature.