MORE than a few South African price records were broken over the weekend at the KwaZulu Natal Nature Conservation Service's (NCS) game auction held at Hluhluwe which is widely considered one of, if not the, "biggest and best" game auctions in Africa.
A record amount of just over R15m was raised at this year's event, compared with R11m raised last year, according NCS media liaison, Jeff Gaisford.
What makes this figure even more remarkable, according to him, is that there were 500 less animals sold this year, than last.
Gaisford attributes the success of the auction - which has been held since 1988 - to its well-established reputation of selling quality animals to reputable and "extremely generous" buyers.
He says a white rhino cow and calf pair was auctioned for R450 000, while six black rhino each achieved a price of R375 000 and male nyala set a record price of R11 000 each.
The proceeds of the auction will be placed in the NCS' central revenue fund, providing a considerable financial boost for the organisation which has had substantial budget cuts this year, says Gaisford.
(Adéle Mackenzie)
