Chinese shipping magnate buys pigeon for record price

A Dutch pigeon fancier sold one of his birds for the world record sum of $418,000 during an internet auction.

Pieter Veenstra auctioned 245 pigeons on the Belgian website Pigeon Paradise for over $3.2 million, including the record-breaking hen, of the Dolce Vita breed.

The buyer, Hu Zhen Yu, is a Chinese shipping magnate, who bought the bird for breeding rather than racing in China, where pigeon fancying is a fast growing sport.