Racing pigeons in long-distance events face significant mortality from exhaustion, disorientation, and predation, with losses of 10-30% common in difficult races involving thousands of birds simultaneously.
Racing pigeon welfare is largely invisible because losses occur over wide geographic areas and individual birds do not return to be assessed. Birds that lose their way face exhaustion death or predation — welfare outcomes that happen offstage and out of view. The scale of loss in difficult long-distance races — thousands of birds not returning — represents significant potential welfare harm that is normalized within racing culture as an acceptable cost of participation.