Odd News Roundup: Indian police retain carrier pigeons as backstop against disasters

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Indian police retain carrier pigeons as backstop against disasters

Even in today's world of instant messaging, video calls, the internet and mobile telephones, police in India's eastern state of Odisha are preserving a flock of carrier pigeons for use when disasters sever communication links. Dating from the days of British colonial rule when police stations used the birds to communicate with each other, the state's carrier pigeon service employs more than 100 Belgian Homer pigeons.