Dassies a hit at game auction
19/05/2007 22:12 - (SA)


Johannesburg - Dassies were a surprise seller at the annual KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) wildlife game auction on Saturday with the furry sun-baskers fetching more than three times the anticipated price.

Spokesperson Jeff Gaisford said the auction's final unaudited sales of R9m were roughly a million rand up from last year.

"It was a very satisfactory auction - we're not at all unhappy about the results."

The average white rhino price was R173 000 with R320 000 the highest price paid.

Gaisford said dassies, or rock hyrax, had been the "big surprise", fetching R370 on average with R450 the top price paid.

"We expected R100," he said.

The dassie is the African elephant's closest living relative - deduced from similarities in the structure of the feet and teeth, according to Kruger National Park's mammal guide.

In total, 1 516 animals were sold from various KZN parks to buyers from private game reserves across the country.

Hippos were auctioned for an average of R28 000 and other animals included kudu, zebra, impala, ostrich and reedbuck.

The animals were sold via a big screen as the majority of them still have to be caught.