Visitors steal pigeons at Beijing temple fair

Visitors to Beijing's Ditan Park temple fair on January 30 were spotted chasing and catching wild pigeons, CNS reports. 

According to the Beijing Youth Daily, a flock of wild pigeons attracted a huge crowd after tourists spotted them near the food stalls. While some were content to just take photos of the birds, others were seen trying to snatch them up, and several were seen leaving the park with a pigeon or two in tow. 

The paper claimed that some visitors had come to the park with the express purpose of capturing the birds for sale, either for food or pigeon racing. In May 2013, a Chinese buyer paid 2.4 million yuan ($398,500) for a Belgian racing pigeon, though its very unlikely that the Ditan Park birds are up to Bolt's standards. 

In December, seagulls in Kunming, Yunnan province, also fell victim to overzealous tourists who grabbed the birds to pose with for photos, often causing severe injury to the gulls. 

[Image via CNS]