Australian authorities are planning to kill an American carrier pigeon that managed to survive a 13,000-kilometer journey across the Pacific.
Kevin Celli-Bird said on Thursday that the exhausted bird arrived in his Melbourne backyard on December 26 and found it had disappeared from a run in Oregon on October 29. The feat caught the attention of local media before the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service became aware, according to Sky News.
“They say that if you are from America, then you are concerned about bird diseases,” said Celli-Bird. “They wanted to know if I could help them. I said, ‘To be honest, I can’t get it. I can reach 50 centimeters from it and then it moves.'”
A racing pigeon sits on a roof on Wednesday in Melbourne, Australia. The carrier pigeon, first spotted in late December 2020, made an extraordinary 8,000-mile journey across the Pacific Ocean from the United States to Australia. (AP / Channel 9)
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He added that quarantine authorities are now considering hiring a professional bird catcher in their quest to control and sacrifice the bird.
The Department of Agriculture, which is responsible for biosafety, says the pigeon “is not allowed to stay in Australia” because “it could compromise Australia’s food security and our wild bird populations”.
“This poses a direct biosafety risk for the lives of Australian birds and our poultry industry,” said a department statement.
Experts suspect that the pigeon that Celli-Bird named Joe, in honor of the elected President of the United States, hitched a ride on a cargo ship to cross the Pacific.
Experts suspect that the pigeon hitched a ride on a cargo ship to cross the Pacific. (AP / Channel 9)
Celli-Bird said Oklahoma-based American Racing Pigeon Union confirmed that Joe was registered as an owner in Montgomery, Alabama.
Celli-Bird said he tried to contact the owner, but failed.
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The bird spends every day in the yard, sometimes sitting side by side with a native dove on an pergola. Celli-Bird feeds him with pigeon food a few days after his arrival.
“I think he decided that since I gave him some food and he has a place to drink, it is my home,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.