Update 2025-05-19 8:50 a.m. ET : Good news for “ Joe ” the pigeon . According to theAP , the hoot is in fact Australian , and thus does not need to be down . Deone Roberts , spokesperson for the American Racing Pigeon Union , told the AP that the leg band that identify Joe as American is “ imitative . ” Australia ’s Agriculture Department told the AP , “ Joe the Pigeon is extremely likely to be Australian and does not present a biosecurity risk . ” Original article appears below .
Officials in Australia are worried that a racing pigeon , which recently completed an 8,000 - mile trek from the United States , carry potentially grievous diseases . This unwilled breach of Australia ’s quarantine laws could now cost the bird its life .
Melbourne resident physician and appropriately named Kevin Celli - Bird found the pigeon , macerate and exhausted , in his backyard on December 26,reportsthe Associated Press . The bird go missing on October 29 during a raceway being held in the state of Oregon . distinctly , the racing pigeon — which somehow made a miraculous 8,100 - statute mile ( 13,100 - km ) journey to Australia — veered right smart off course .
In this image made from video, “Joe” the racing pigeon sits on a rooftop on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021, in Melbourne, Australia.Image: Channel 9 (AP)
After drinking some water and taking a bath in Celli - Bird ’s backyard fountain ( and also being fed some biscuits ) , the pigeon decided to stick around . Celli - Bird , who named the bird “ Joe ” in accolade of the U.S. president - elect , decided to enchant it after notice a sorry banding on its leg .
Realizing he had a racing pigeon on his hands , Celli - Bird contacted a local pigeon gild , but it was n’t listed in their records .
“ I google it and it showed up an American racing pigeon unification and it was registered to someone in Montgomery , Alabama , ” Celli - Birdtold7NEWS in Australia .
“Joe” the racing pigeon in Melbourne.Photo: Kevin Celli-Bird (AP)
He has been unable to connect with the owner .
The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service ( AQIS ) is aware of the office and very unhappy about it . official with the section demand Celli - Bird to capture the pigeon for fear that it ’s carrying disease not found in Australia . Joe is “ not permitted to remain in Australia , ” agree to a departmentstatement , because the snort “ could compromise Australia ’s food security and our risky bird populations . ” accordingly , the wayward bird presents a “ lineal biosecurity risk to Australian hoot life and our poultry industry , ” per the AQIS argument .
AQIS contacted Celli - Bird and asked him to fascinate Joe , but the pigeon is healthier now and not so well-situated to subdue .
“ They say if it is from America , then they ’re implicated about dame diseases , ” he told AP . “ They wanted to roll in the hay if I could help them out . I say , ‘ To be honest , I ca n’t trance it . I can get within [ a few inches ] of it and then it moves . ’ ”
The section will now rent a professional to compass the rogue razzing ( no Book if this professional goes by the name of Ace Ventura ) and then destroy it , presumably in a humane manner . Indeed , AQIS does n’t mess around ; in 2015 , the departmentthreatened to killa couplet of Yorkshire terrier smuggle into the rural area by player Johnny Depp and then - wife Amber Heard ( the dogs , named Pistol and Boo , were sent back to the U.S. ) .
https://gizmodo.com/record-breaking-bird-just-flew-nonstop-from-alaska-to-n-1845358655
So this is apparently a really challenging story , but I also want to know how this bird actually made it from Oregon to Melbourne . Pigeons are n’t known for epic trips over weewee , which are typically earmark for birds like bar - tailed godwits .
Last year , for example , a taproom - tailed godwit made arecord nonstop flightfrom Alaska to New Zealand , a 7,987 - mi ( 12,854 - kilometre ) journey that lasted 11 days . These birds have special adaptations that make such treks possible , such as modest metabolisms and the ability to kip while fly . Racing pigeons , on the other helping hand , do n’t have these same abilities .
That said , race pigeon are capable of farseeing - aloofness flights , as race can involvedistancesbetween 62 and 310 miles ( 100 - 500 kilometre ) . Racing pigeons can not do these uttermost flight nonstop , involve them to land from time to meter .
Joe , unlike the track record - breaking cake - tag godwit , was n’t tracked with a satellite tag , so we ’ll likely never lie with how it made the journey across the Pacific . But as Brad Turner , repository for the Australian National Pigeon Association , told AP , some racing pigeons from China make the trek to Australia aboard cargo ships . Something very similar may have happen here , allowing Joe to reach the Australian Cicily Isabel Fairfield sea-coast .
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