EC game auction draws bigger crowds

THE annual Kirkwood Wildlife Festival has established itself as one of the premier events in the Eastern Cape, says festival committee chairperson Johan Swart. “Proof of the popularity of the three-day festival is that it attracted over 50% more people to the Sunday’s River Valley than it did last year,” he says. More than 18 000 tickets were sold at the gates between Friday and Sunday, June 27 to 29. Turnover at the auction was R1,7m, which is on a par with the 2002 auction. However, seven of the 10 white rhino bulls that were on sale and a white rhino cow failed to meet their reserve prices. The top price for a breeding white rhino bull was R150 000. Another trend emerging from the auction is that private game owners are also becoming more selective about the animals they put on their land. “All the animals put on auction by the Addo Elephant National Park were sold. This is a tribute to the more than 60 years of careful management and breeding by South African National Parks,” says Swart. (Adéle Mackenzie)