May 23, 2008

Zululand OBSERVER

	Auction nets over R12-million A young group of Nyala were all ears The Kelly family - Garry, Kate, Jasmin and Jade from Warmbaths - stroll around the bomas prior to the auction on Saturday Larry Bentley Buyers from far and wide converged on the Sibaya Casino near Durban to buy game at this year's Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Game Auction. Both buyers and sellers were satisfied with the response and excellent prices were paid for most species on offer. All 227 lots were sold and the coffers of EKZNW received a healthy boost of more than R12-million. The highest price paid for a single White Rhino was R470 000 and a female and calf combination fetched R530 000. The average White Rhino price was R252 973. Other interesting prices were dassies fetching a maximum of R450 and hippo R18 250 each. Management tool EKZNW CEO Khulani Mkhize was extremely pleased with the outcome of the auction and said that the excellent result clearly demonstrated the faith the buyers had in the quality of EKZNW game and the professional manner in which it is captured and handled by their Game Capture Unit. He said this unit must rate as one of the best of its kind in the world. The KZN Nature Conservation Board Chairman, Dr Patrick Sokhela, said that it is important that it be known that the game auction is primarily a game management tool in which excess game is sold after internal transfers of animals have been made. The financial spin-off is a bonus and what is earned from the game sales contributes significantly to the EKZNW success as a nature conservation agency.