Germany: Pigeon falls foul of speeding camera in 30km zone

A speed camera in the small German town of Bocholt caught a pigeon swooping past well above the limit in a 30 kilometer-per-hour zone. The incident didn't ruffle enough feathers to warrant a major investigation.

Animal rights activists were worried that pigeons would starve as the COVID-19 crisis saw high streets emptied, leaving no scraps to eat. Now the birds in Cologne will not go hungry.

The pigeon, New Kim, was acquired by a wealthy Chinese buyer. Pigeon racing is an age-old working class hobby rooted in Belgian and Dutch life that has gained popularity in Asia as a gambling activity.

Long established in countries such as Belgium, France and China, pigeon racing only took off in Senegal over the past decade after hobbyist ornamental-bird breeders stumbled across the sport on the internet.

When 80-year-old Xavier Bouget goes for a ride on his bicycle, tinkers in his workshop, waters his garden or sits down to eat a biscuit, he has a constant companion: a white female pigeon called Blanchon. Bouget, a retiree from the northwest French region of Brittany, befriended the bird when it was a chick and now it tags along with him everywhere, sitting on his shoulder or walking along beside him.

In Madagascar's south crops regularly fail due to drought and land erosion. For farmers like Kazy Zanapijo pigeon peas, a staple crop in India, are an answer.