Brussels – What do you do with 400,000 euros? For example, you could buy a single-family home with a garden in the Bavarian countryside, travel around the world for a year in business class including 5-star hotels, buy a work of art by Banksy or buy a DOVE! No joke: That’s how much money the animal was worth to a Chinese man.
An inconspicuous bird from Diest (Belgium) is causing a stir in international pigeon racing: “New Kim 3” was launched at a… Auction auctioned for an incredible 400,000 euros. This means that the female animal has flown into third place among the most expensive pigeons to date.
“This is an extraordinary price,” said Nikolaas Gyselbrecht from the Belgian pigeon auction house Pipa in Ghent. Because male pigeons are generally more expensive. “They can produce more offspring,” says Gyselbrecht.
Benny Vanhoudt (r.) and his son Bart have sold their star pigeon “New Kim 3”. She is a descendant of the most expensive pigeon in the world
The buyer is a pigeon lover from China, several Belgian media reports. There, the fascination with top pigeons has long since achieved cult status.
Descendant of a legend
The new record bird comes from a real pigeon dynasty. New Kim 3 is a direct descendant of New Kim: the most expensive to date Taube in the world went over the online auction table in 2020 for an incredible 1.6 million euros. Here too, the buyer came from China.
The buyer purchased his record price pigeon exclusively for breeding
“Chinese breeders are crazy about Flemish racing pigeons,” says Gyselbrecht. In China there are pigeon races with high prize money. And they are almost as popular as football. “Therefore, it is lucrative to invest in pigeons.”
But the new owner of New Kim 3 has other plans for the animal.
Building a nest instead of a sports career
Because the pigeon is too expensive to take any risks, its sporting career is ended. New Kim 3 was purchased solely for breeding purposes – in the hope of creating a new generation of champions. Up to 16 young animals per year are possible. It is still unclear whether she will move to China to do this. Many owners leave theirs Animals breed in Europe.
Empty aviaries: 18 of the Vanhoudts’ female pigeons went under the hammer
Breeders earned a total of 523,525 euros
Father Benny and son Bart Vanhoudt, who bred New Kim 3, can look back on a sensational season: The breeders sold 18 of their female pigeons at the auction and made proceeds of 523,525 euros. But New Kim 3 was the star of the evening.