Six-year-old buffalo cow sold for R4.6 million at Stud Game Breeders Auction

A six-year-old buffalo cow was sold for R4.6 million at the recent Stud Game Breeders auction. All 98 lots were sold, achieving a turnover of R50.49 million.

By Jasper Raats

Pieter Ernst Sr and Pieter Ernst Jr of Bona Bona Wildlife, between Klerksdorp and Wolmaransstad, bought the buffalo cow, Nova, which has a horn width of 40 inches. She was the most expensive buffalo cow at the auction, held on 4 and 5 September near Bela-Bela in Limpopo.

The average price per lot was R515 204. A total of 325 buyers registered for the auction, including 13 newcomers. There were also 41 telephone bidders and a total of 1 050 online bids.

JP Smith of Wildswinkel says the average lot price of more than R500 000 was a more important indicator of the auction’s performance than a few high prices. According to him, one exceptional animal can result in a record price, while a strong average over 98 sales indicates the depth of demand.

Buffaloes represented a large part of the auction’s value. Eighteen buffalo cows were sold for a total of R19.795 million, at an average of R1 099 722 each. The five buffalo bulls achieved R7.555 million, with an average price of R1.511 million.

Thus, the buffaloes together represented R27.35 million, or about 54% of the total auction turnover.

Nova stands out

Nova was the outlier among the buffalo cows. She is six years and ten months old and the daughter of Horison, a buffalo bull that boasts horns of more than 55 inches.

According to Smith, a large part of her value lies in her breeding potential. She is pregnant to the bull Triple X, which also has horns of more than 55 inches. There is also the possibility that she will be mated again to the bull Amakosi, which has horns of more than 56 inches, after she calves.

Sables also achieved some of the higher prices at the auction. Seventeen cows sold for a total of R4.525 million, with an average of R266 176 and a top price of R520 000. Three bulls together achieved R2.4 million, or an average of R800 000, with a top price of R1.35 million.

Seven king wildebeest cows sold for R1.84 million, at an average of R262 857. The highest price was R560 000. Two bulls together fetched R640 000.

A kudu bull sold for R1.35 million and attracted a lot of interest from online bidders. The bull received 64 online bids. A buffalo cow that sold for R2.4 million received 72 bids.

The lot that attracted the most online activity, however, was a white-flanked rooibos ram. The ram received 80 bids before it sold for R360 000. A saddleback rooibos ram, which received 48 bids, fetched R330 000.

Smith says about 500 people attended the auction. According to him, the interest was noticeable across several species, and the high prices were not limited to one species.

The five members of Stud Game Breeders offer animals from established breeding programmes, and Smith attributes the interest to buyers’ demand for proven genetic material, among other things. The members are Dinaka Game Reserve at Modimolle, Lumarie Game Farm at Bela-Bela, Nyumbu Wildlife at Beestekraal, Phala Phala Wildlife at Bela-Bela and Tembani Wildlife at Thabazimbi. The auctioneer was Brandon Leer.