Breeding pigeons, a passion that continues in North Africa

Across the Arab world, pigeon fanciers bring the millennial passion for birds to life, despite the years and the difficulties linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is a spectacle that pigeon lovers have not been able to see for several months. With the increase in Covid-19 contaminations, racing and racing pigeon competitions have been interrupted in Morocco, to the chagrin of breeders and pigeon fanciers.

50 km from Casablanca, in the city of Settat , Moncif Bendarouach continues the long tradition of breeding racing pigeons . Birds that he watches over, and that he feeds, like professional sportsmen. Because pigeon races sometimes exceed 700 km. These then require a preparation worthy of the greatest international competitions.

Moncif Bendarouach who represents the Bouregreg Association of racing pigeons said, from the moment you decide to start breeding carrier pigeons, you have to know that it is like having an athlete who has to train. The diet must be regulated, every mistake will be fatal for pigeons. Today, all the cities of Morocco are interested in the breeding of competition pigeons. The number of enthusiasts in this sector is increasing, there are more and more associations in Salé and in the rest of Morocco too.

And this passion is shared all over the Arab world. At the foot of the Giza plateau in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, Omar Gamal commands his pigeons to the rhythm of his whistles. This know-how, the young Egyptian is very proud of it.

Omar Gamal proudly, contemplating the waltz of his charges said, if you bought pigeons for a million Egyptian pounds and I for only five thousand, the heavens would come between us. I can let go of a cheap pigeon completely under control, unlike someone who would let go of an expensive pigeon without knowing how to control your flight. That's the difference!.

Every evening, Omar releases his birds from the top of the dovecote which sits on the roof of his building. And a new aerial ballet redecorates the sky of Cairo under the warm light of Egyptian twilight. The time to honor once again this ancestral tradition , which dates back to the time of the pyramids.