A pigeon declared a biosecurity risk after flying to Melbourne from the United States may get a reprieve after an American bird organisation declared its identifying leg band was fake.
Pigeon that faces death sentence in Australia may get a reprieve for its fake US leg band
AP/Canberra Filed on January 15, 2021
US bird organisation declared the identifying leg band found on a pigeon in Australia is fake
A pigeon that Australia declared a biosecurity risk may get a reprieve after a US bird organisation declared its identifying leg band was fake.
The band suggested the bird found in a Melbourne backyard on December 26 was a racing pigeon that had left the US state of Oregon, 3,000km away, two months earlier.
On that basis, Australian authorities on Thursday said they considered the bird a disease risk and planned to kill it.
Authorities thought it had made its way all the way from Oregon and considered it a biosecurity risk. But a U.S. bird group said an identifying band on its leg was fake.