Johannesburg - Wildlife prices are tumbling in South
Africa, as game breeders are squeezed by restrictions imposed on trophy hunting
following the killing of Cecil the lion in 2015, and the worst drought on
record forced farmers to sell animals.
The average price of a buffalo bull fell 71 percent, to R95
704 rand, in 2016 and is now a fraction of the record R2.1 million set in 2013,
according to Vleissentraal, an auction house.
“There has been an onslaught on the trophy hunting
industry and that has fed through to prices,” said Peet van der Merwe, a
professor of wildlife and tourism at South Africa’s North West University. “The
drought has also hurt farmers, many of whom had to sell stock.”
The collapse marks the end of four years of skyrocketing
values for South African wildlife, which are often specially bred for bigger
horns or coloured coats. The practice has been criticized by environmentalists
and even some hunters for what they see as unnaturally tampering with the gene
pool.
The boom in prices from 2011 to 2014 was driven by growth
in trophy hunting and investment from high-net-worth individuals, including
luxury-goods billionaire Johann Rupert and South African Deputy President Cyril
Ramaphosa. Some farmers also switched from cattle to game.
That all changed in 2015. The country experienced its
worst drought since records began in 1904, making feed more expensive, while US
dentist Walter Palmer provoked worldwide outrage by illegally killing Cecil, a
13-year-old lion in Zimbabwe known for his striking black mane.
After the death of Cecil, who was part of an Oxford
University research project, the US, France, the Netherlands and Australia
tightened restrictions on importing animal carcasses, while United Airlines and
Delta Air Lines banned customers from transporting hunting trophies.
Prices of specially-bred colour variants also fell last
year. The average golden wildebeest bull sold for R395 363, a drop of 61
percent from 2015, according to Vleissentraal. Black impala rams plunged
78 percent, and even lower-value so-called plains game such as kudu tumbled 64
percent. Wildebeest are usually dark gray and impalas are more commonly reddish
brown.
Prices are also being affected by expanded supply of
farmed wildlife. Seeing the high prices, many cattle farmers converted to game
in 2012 to 2014, temporarily pushing up demand for breeding stock before some
were forced to sell during the drought, according to Van der Merwe.
Still, the value of the costliest buffalo increased in
2016. South African businessman Peter Bellingham paid 44 million rand for a 25
percent share in Horizon, Africa’s biggest-horned, tuberculosis-free buffalo
last February. That values Horizon at a record R176 million, surpassing the R40
million paid for a buffalo named Mystery by a group including Rupert in 2013.
Horizon’s horns are 55 inches wide, compared with
Mystery’s 53 inches.
Breeders in South Africa, the biggest market for the
animals, are willing to pay record prices for the genes of buffaloes that could
increase their herd’s horn span, which is desirable to hunters.