A Belgian bred pigeon named “Armando” was sold in 2019 for a sky-high price of 10,52,22,255.73 Crore Rupees, Making the Pigeon the most expensive of all birds living on the planet earth.
According to those in the know, the treasured bird – Belgian's finest long-distance racer of all time - was purchased by a Chinese bidder for a premium fee that sparked a flutter of excitement among bird racing enthusiasts.
In addition, the same auction also featured the sale of seven of Armando’s offspring as well. These seven were also sold for an impressive total price of 1.26 crore rupees or an average of 18 lakh Indian rupees per youngster. Auction House Pipa which carried out the sale had dubbed Armando as the "greatest Belgian long-distance pigeon of all time". He was also known as the "Lewis Hamilton of pigeons".
The previous record was 3.15 crores before this transaction. Pipa, on the other hand, claims that this was beaten within a day of Armando being placed up for offers.
What’s so special about these Pigeons?
The value of these pigeons differs from other common breeds because of their feats in the Pigeon racing world. Pigeon racing is a sport in which highly trained homing pigeons are released and then return to their homes across a predetermined distance. The time it takes the animal to go the allotted distance is timed, and the bird's rate of movement is computed and compared to all other pigeons in the race to decide which animal returned at the fastest pace.
Pigeon racing necessitates the use of a specially specialised breed of pigeon known as the Racing Homer. Competing pigeons are properly trained and conditioned for races ranging in distance from 100 kilometres (62 miles) to 1,000 kilometres (620 mi).
