It was the fourth day of October 2008, the fifth production sale of the Letaba Sable Antelope Study Group, and a day to remember. The air at the immaculate auction boma complex on the farm of Henry Dunn at Selati Ranch near Gravelotte, was filled with tense anticipation. There were no less than 200 sable on offer. A specialised auction of one species brings many competing buyers with the same interests together and usually result in high prices.
However, what was about to take place that morning, no-one in their wildest dreams could have imagined. T he auction was also a celebration of the labour of a group of dedicated farmers in the region who have made it their mission to rescue the dwindling population of sable and other endangered herbivores, like roan antelope, by scientific grazing management, selective breeding and reintroduction. S tatistics show that when the Letaba study group was established in 1986, there were only about 800 sable left in the Lowveld and at this auction, a quarter of that number was on sale, which made it the biggest sable auction ever.
A sought-after breed
The sable antelope is today one of the most desirable hunting trophies in the world and especially US hunters are prepared to spend a small fortune hunting one. B uyers congregated from all over the country and beyond, including a strong contingent from Namibia. As a sideshow there were also some roan antelope, buffalo and rhino that came under the hammer, but only the buffalo were sold. s usual, the bidding started slowly, but soon local and Namibian bidders tried to outdo each other.
The big marquee tent reverberated with applause when the first South African record was shattered with a price of R800 000 for an adult sable bull, owned by Piet Warren and sold to Big Five managed by Ian Bester of Gravelotte. This was almost twice as much as the highest price of R410 000 paid for a sable in South Africa. It was not long before the tent with seating for 800, grew eerily silent in disbelief when Frans Schutte from Gravelotte bought an adult bull from Hannes Maree of Tzaneen for the unbelievable price of R1,4 million. This was almost four times the previous all-time record. But the best was yet to come and everyone knew it.
Down in the boma was still Lot 40, a magnificent six-year-old Zambian bull with 46in (1,17m) horns. When it came under the hammer the bidding seemed to go on and on until the hammer eventually fell at a full R3 million. It was probably the highest price for any sable antelope in history, anywhere in the world. It also belonged to Piet Warren and was bought by Kobus and Rhyno du Toit of Pretoria, who have a game ranch at Rubbervale.
“In all the thousands of auctions I’ve handled during my 40 years in the business, I’ve never sold any animal, domestic or wild, for a million rand … let alone two in one day,” remarked veteran Vleissentraal Bosveld auctioneer Willie Roux. Together with the 11 buffalo sold, the total turnover for the auction was more than R23 million, the highest for any private game auction ever. It proves that there is great confidence in the game industry in South Africa, which can have a definite spill-over in tourism.
A species battling for genes
All three top sable bulls were of Zambian stock and although they are one and the same species as South African sable, it was clear that Zambian bloodlines fetched much higher prices than local bloodlines, simply because they produce longer horns. It is proof that hunting is the main drive behind the game industry and the reason why more and more land is being set aside for wild animals. It’s something anti-hunters and the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEAT) should take note of. In contrast to the extreme demand for sable, the price of roan antelope has lately dropped significantly due to the restrictions that the Threatened or Protected Species (TOPS) regulations place on their utilisation through hunting.
Like at several previous auctions, none of them were sold at this auction. Although they are far scarcer than sable and some members of the study group have bred them with considerable success, there is at the moment little demand for them. If you can’t hunt them nobody wants them, it’s as simple as that. Roan production in provincial reserves was largely a failure and the population in Kruger is steadily declining. Like sable, their future is in private hands. DEAT is in fact an obstacle to their conservation and their counter-productive policies may eventually lead to their ultimate extinction in South Africa. |fw
