Pigeon fanciers are trying to reclaim their kidnapped birds.
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00:00 Men on a mission to get their kidnapped pigeons back.
00:04 They're scaling new heights to recapture what they believe is rightfully theirs.
00:09 "This is the third time. We've been caught again."
00:12 Massive homing pigeon races are held here in Kaohsiung, in southern Taiwan, at this time of year.
00:18 It's a sport animal rights groups condemn as cruel,
00:22 yet the rewards for races here can be huge, reaching hundreds of thousands of US dollars.
00:28 Fanciers take the pigeons on a boat out to sea, then release them to race 10 kilometres back to Kaohsiung.
00:35 But if the weather is bad, the birds can get confused and fly the wrong way.
00:40 Right into one of these nets.
00:42 They've been set up atop nearby Jiashan Mountain,
00:46 by organised groups who want to ensnare the prized competitors
00:50 so they can demand ransoms of hundreds of US dollars per bird
00:54 from owners who are determined to get their golden geese back.
00:57 "This is a pigeon. This is a rascal. Come, come, come. Hurry up."
01:02 "This is the first one. There are two more on the other side."
01:08 Local authorities say the bird nappers could be in violation of the law.
01:13 "If you capture a prized animal, you may be charged with theft and crime."
01:17 For both kidnappers and fanciers, with this much money on the line, the stakes are sky high.
01:23 But for pigeons, held in captivity their whole lives,
01:27 there may not be much difference between death in a race or in a net.
01:31 John Su, Sally Ensign and Laurel Stewart for Taiwan Plus.
01:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]