“This buffalo fights lions”, said Brandon Leer the auctioneer at the Signature game auction hosted by Kwandwe Reserve on Saturday. He was telling bidders and onlookers that the buffalo on the block was tough. It shared a game reserve with at least two prides of battle-hardened lions. It was not one of those sheltered prize bulls protected in an enclosure from predators all its life.
His claim is relevant because in a reserve that boasts over 20 lions, survival of the fittest has life or death consequences. He is saying that Kwandwe bulls are among the fittest. They have good genes and make for superior breeding, therefore bidders can feel comfortable about driving up the price.
The 112 lots at the auction took in a total of R10,880,850 (about U$720,000) – a tidy sum under the circumstances but well short of the pre-Covid halcyon days when the annual event raked in over R55 million.
A top price of R720,000 was paid for the majestic sable bull named Universe at the 2022 edition of the auction. Universe, offered by Piet du Toit Wildbedryf, has a Zambian bloodline as the catalogue documents the pedigree of his parents and describes him:
A dream bloodline combination for any serious breeder. Masculine, large bodied sable bull and still growing. Proud, perfectly balanced and displaying exceptional phenotype for the species. With his strong genetic variation, he is expected to produce the best progeny.
The two horns of this six-year-old measured - left: 52 4/8” and right: 53 2/8”. Yes, you might have noticed that people who measure horn lengths (Rowland Ward is the standard) use eighths of an inch as fractions. They don’t say 52 and-a-half, they prefer 52 and four-eighths. The same applies for quarters, they say 53 and-two-eighths rather than 52 and-a-quarter.
My maths teacher would have had a conniption.
A top price for a sable is unusual at this game auction where buffalo have reigned reign supreme since demand for rhinos tanked. The second highest bid at the 2022 auction was R660,000 for a buffalo bull known as Horison Jr with his 49"+ horn-spread. He has an East African bloodline and was sired by none other than the legendary 55 6/8" Horison.
The third highest price was R550,000 for a Kwandwe buffalo cow. She secured such a good bid not because of her horns or her pedigree – she doesn’t even have a name – but because she is in the third trimester of her pregnancy carrying a calf sired by Mkhulu 52 7/8”. (Mkhulu means ‘Great One’ in Nguni languages)
There were many other animals up for auction including waterbuck, red hartebeest, zebras, kudu, oryx, impala, giraffe, nyala, roan, eland, springbok, bushbuck and wildebeest. But there were no predators, elephants nor rhinos.
The absence of rhinos is not surprising since breeders can be reluctant to commit to them because of the increase in poaching in recent years. While there are quite a number of rhino breeders around the country, they carry a higher risk than breeders of other animals and they have to spend a lot more on expensive security measures.
When I first attended the auctions about a dozen years ago, rhinos often fetched top prices well in excess of a million rand.
Although there were no rhinos for sale at this year’s auction, they did take bids on an unusual rhino tracking experience. The package includes a three night stay for two people in one of the ultra-luxury lodges, plus a helicopter ride over the reserve. The catalogue goes on:
The activity will involve learning how to use telemetry, which will be used to track a critically endangered Black rhino which has been fitted with a tracking collar. In most cases, collars are only fitted when the individual requires intensive monitoring. This usually takes place when the individual has recently left their mother, has been injured or is sick, for security reasons, or when it has been introduced or requires translocation to another reserve.
Proceeds of the winning bid of R230,000 will be shared between the Kwandwe Rhino Conservation Trust and the Ubunye Foundation.
In addition to this innovative package which I would have really enjoyed, there were two other types of packages that I would definitely not have enjoyed. These other offers were for either biltong (dried meat) or trophy hunting packages.
Debating the rationale for hunting
While I was positioning myself on a walkway above the bomas (holding pens) to take photographs of some prize buffalo, a friendly man approached me and opened a conversation. It sounded like he had a German accent and wore a shirt emblazoned with the logo of a private game lodge. I guessed he was the owner of the lodge.
He sized me up very quickly and asked in his best non-confrontational manner, “So, what do you think of hunting?”
He wanted to probe the question and guessed (rightly) that I might have some issues with hunting.
I was curious about why he asked me the question and why not any of the other people around – or perhaps he asked everyone for their views on hunting. I didn’t think so.
Perhaps the remnants of my big-city aura shone through and I looked different to all the other breeder/hunter/bidder types. I spent most of my life in Johannesburg. On the other hand maybe it had something to do with the camera I was swinging around.
I explained that I was uncomfortable with trophy hunting, but understood hunting for the pot or even for culling – shooting animals to bring their population down. I would never personally shoot an animal, but in the part of the Eastern Cape where I live, a high proportion of people I know hunt often.
He then proceeded to mansplain all the reasons why hunting is a valuable source of income for the region and why it is necessary to bring numbers down in accordance with the carrying capacity of the land they live on.
It’s an awkward topic that I don’t enjoy arguing about. I’ve heard all sides of the debate many, many times and I’ve decided that it’s a really awkward topic.
I avoid hunters and hunting. I go to especially great lengths to avoid trophy hunting.
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