Most Expensive African Buffalo Valued at $11.1 Million

James.Grage

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February 15, 2016 — 12:36 AM MST Updated on February 15, 2016 — 3:03 AM MST

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Horizon the Buffalo.

Source: Piet du Toit

Africa’s biggest-horned and disease-free buffalo was valued at a record amount on Saturday after South Africa-based businessman Peter Bellingham bought a 25 percent share for 44 million rand ($2.8 million).

That values the animal, named Horizon for his wide horn span, at a record 176 million rand, surpassing the 40 million rand paid for a buffalo named Mystery by a group including billionaire Johann Rupert in 2013. Horizon’s horns are 55 inches wide, compared with Mystery’s 53 inches. It also doesn’t suffer from tuberculosis, a disease afflicting many wild buffalo in South Africa.

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Horizon the Buffalo
Source: Piet du Toit
“It was a unique opportunity to own the best genes in the world,” said Hendrik de Kock, a marketer at Wildswinkel (Pty) Ltd., which ran the auction.


Horizon’s four owners, including Bellingham, have the right to provide him with ten buffalo cows each year and keep the offspring, De Kock said. Breeders in South Africa, the biggest market for such animals, are willing to pay record prices for the genes of buffaloes they believe can increase their herd’s horn span, which is desirable to hunters.

The industry has attracted wealthy investors such as Rupert, who controls jewelry maker Richemont, the maker of Cartier watches. South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and Norman Adami, the former chairman of SABMiller Plc’s local unit, have also made investments in the animals.

Horizon’s sale bucks the recent trend for wild animal prices in South Africa. Average buffalo prices, including females, dropped 30 percent to 334,879 rand in 2015, according to data compiled by South Africa’s North West University. Prices of sable and roan, both types of antelope, dropped 35 percent and 39 percent respectively.
 

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hope he lives a long and healthy and happy life.
 
What would a 500 gm piece of steak/T-Bone cost from this buffalo?
 
I hope that he has a very large family and many many sons.
 
Are day fees included?
 
It's funny how late season Zim hunts for cape buffalo were give or take $6000 less than 10 years ago. Well maybe over time all this cape buffalo breeding will bring the avg. price down:E Thinking:. Supply and demand will come into play.
 
That is a really really big buff. Man they need to put him on an artificial breeding program as soon as possible! He is capable of servicing a lot more than 40 cows......four owners with ten cows each I think they said.
Maybe some of our members who are cattle ranchers on here could speak with more authority as to what would be possible through use of artificial insemination.
 
Will be interesting to see what game auction prices do.... In my mind they're going to be high this year....

My best always
 
:E Excited::E Greedy:....:E Head Scratch::E Hmmm:...now where the hell did i park my stealth c-130 hercules ?......:E Devious::E Rofl:

You can always drive them across the Limpopo when its low!
 
HOLY COW ! or I CALL B.S. I know there is a joke in there some where ?
Glen
 
HOLY COW ! or I CALL B.S. I know there is a joke in there some where ?
Glen
Glen the truth I know Peter very well, has his ranch close to Naboom spruit, all the talk of lower game prices won't happen, I have never seen a rancher want less for his Eland than what he received last year....
The breeding industry is rocking, and rolling, biiiig money spenders in it spending biiiiiig money.
Average sable bulls in the high 30"'s are now classified as entry level breeder bulls for breeders with small properties just breaking into the market, and so forth....
It's an interesting time in deed.

My best always
 
JAco- if the SA trend follows Texas- 40" buff will soon be a every day thing and the price will drop for that type bull based on the breeding because 45" will be the new norm. Same thing that has happened to 160-170 WTs here in Texas. You can now find those type WTs for 4-5K all day long with BIG now being over 250. I suspect the price might remain the same but the quality will go way up, and the big bulls by today's standard will be cheaper and easier to find in 5 yrs.
 
@buck wild we have seen this but we have seen it the other way around aswell as mentioned above, this year the guys that rely on auctions are going to be in a bit of a squeeze.

I fully agree with your 5 year prediction, I remember flying with a client in Texas to go check out a 200 plus buck at an astronomical price and now they're not nearly as pricy as what they were, the breeders will flip it for as long as they can though...

My best always
 
I'll take 2 please...
 
I suspect most within the breeding industry can't see it but if this isn't a bubble I don't know what is.
 
It's funny how late season Zim hunts for cape buffalo were give or take $6000 less than 10 years ago. Well maybe over time all this cape buffalo breeding will bring the avg. price down:E Thinking:. Supply and demand will come into play.

Correct me if I am wrong but aren't those Zimbabwe buff hunts for wild ones and not ones from game farms? Kind of hard to compare the 2. A hunt for a wild animal, were there is no size guarantee, is quite different from hunting for an animal off a game farm where the size of the animal you will get depends on how deep your wallet is...

Like the whitetail example a 200 class wild whitetail is still a huge and rare trophy. But now with some game farms due to I'd say advances in chemistry (hormones etc...) more than anything, for a farmed whitetail its nothing all that special now.
 
Still Dragan N., those Zimbabwe hunts were WILD HUNTS, which technically to me have a higher value. Zimbabwe use to have a TON of sable too. :E Day Dreaming:I'm probably still kicking my self every time I post for not going on those hunts back in the day:A Bang Head:. I didn't have a good hunting mentor that should have said hunt leopard and cape buffalo before all the plains game.:A Bonk:
My personal honest opinion is that cape buffalo hunting in RSA is a little like shopping.:A Outta:. Don't get me wrong there are some nice areas by Krueger but they are not a cheap hunt, frankly I don't every see their price coming down either.:A Surrender:. They are in high demand, a lot of big cape buffalo taken. If the hunting wasn't so good the price would be less:S Beat Dead Horse:. I still have dreams of going to Tanzania/Mozambique some day, but maybe I'm a dreamer:E Day Dreaming:
 
I hope they can take some of his genetic material once he dies so he can live on.
 

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