Not much info and research has been done on pigeon racing in taiwan. Albeit illegal and hush hush in many aspects, any well documented resources on the history of pigeon racing and how lucrative it is? Some imported breeds go for 1 million usd. Also, has PETA done anything about this type of animal abuse? Thousands of pigeons are released off of the kaohisung coast, most perish in the vast ocean.
The real land of pigeon racing is Belgium. Most of race pigeons in Taiwan are imported from Europe. So as you can imagine, pigeon racing started in Europe, mostly Belgium and England in the mid 19th century.
It was first introduced to Taiwan in the 1930s by the Japanese, and reached its peak popularity in the 1960s. Although some people claim that a version of pigeon racing existed in Southern Taiwan prior to the 1930s.
According to this 2018 article, pigeon racing is an industry that’s worth 70 billion NTD, and the government is thinking of ways to tax it even though it’s not exactly legal.
Not to mention the money gambled on it, which is enormous.
In 2001, I saw a local I kind of knew on crutches. He told me he had quit his job to breed the perfect pigeon. This was in his 2nd floor apartment. Well, during his experiments, he managed to blow up his apartment and had to jump out of the window to safety. He broke his ankles.
I think I’ve heard of that kind of “pigeon” wink wink
I didn’t know it was illegal. Are you sure about that?
I thought the only reason they raced from ships was to avoid people shooting the birds.
The gambling part is illegal.
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Gambling is illegal, indeed. With exceptions.
Sometimes they snag them with nets crossing ridges, I’ve heard. Quick phone call, it would be a shame if something happened to your bird
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No it’s a different type of race. The European pigeons are just used for genetic diversity , Taiwanese have their own varieties that are specialised in gruelling over water endurance racing…
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Pigeon races in Belgium can be several hundreds of km, the biggest race is from Bordeaux (France) to Belgium. And yes, betting is part of it. Winning pigeons are highly priced.
Weather forecasts are very important for release of the flock, although not always reliable and dozens of pigeons end up death or lost.
I’ve seen nets on hikes in my area.
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Seems all the real money is in gambling and selling prized birds/genetics. I remember when I first moved here my uncle in law won big and bough a house (6mil). the wins can be quite nice 
I just dont like the shit all over my trucks everyday, still so many cage houses everywhere.
I have always wanted to know about the eye thing. everyone has their birds plaques on the wall and there is always that eye pic. they explained it but my mandarin isnt good enough.
Nets are illegal. can report them. usually for farming and they kill loads of wild species 
What’s this?
All the framed photos of their birds have another picture with eye closeups.
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Fantastic, thanks for sharing that! that video just scratched an.itch I have had for a very long time! I am in awe the amount of detail they have figured out over centuries of such intimate details on such things. this has been my favourite thing to watch all week. fascinating!
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illegally built rooftop pigeon houses for illegal race gambling run amok yet no one snitches on them. whereas, you’ve got young and old drivers narrowingly hitting pedestrians and people just brush it off. wtf is wrong with this society?