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.