Problem
Hazards to animal navigation
Other Names:
Navigation failures of homing pigeonsDisruption of birds' innate tracking systems
Incidence:
More than 2,000 homing pigeons disappeared for unknown reasons in one day during two races held in the USA. Out of 1,800 birds in a 320-kilometre race from New Market, Virginia, to Allentown, Pennsylvania, about 1,500 vanished. And in a 240-kilometre race from western Pennsylvania to suburban Philadelphia, 700 out of 900 pigeons were missing. The few birds that returned were exhausted and it was obvious that they had been flying lost for hours.
In 2000 in the UK, it was estimated that only 7.5 percent of homing pigeons were killed by raptors out of the 52 percent that failed to find their way home. The rest get lost or fly into pylons.
Broader Problems:
Exploitation of animals in spectator sportsThreatened species of ColumbidaeAccidents of animals Strategies:
Pigeon-racing Organizations:
International Federation of American Homing Pigeon Fanciers Subject(s):
Birds, Mammals → Birds→ Systems
Research, Standards → Navigation
Societal Problems → Failure
Societal Problems → Hazards
Zoology → Animals
Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Problem Type:
G: Very specific problems Date of last update
04.10.2020 – 22:48 CEST