South Africa's first live-crocodile auction has set benchmark prices for the carnivorous reptiles, bringing transparency to an industry in which animals are usually traded privately.
About 8300 of 8600 crocodiles were sold last month at the auction in Wartburg, KwaZulu-Natal, said Neil Pentolfe, one of the owners of auction organisers Southern African Crocodile Traders.
Sub-adults, a term for crocodiles aged from seven to 10 years and weighing as much as 200kg, went for $1100 (R12518) while 10-month-old crocodiles fetched $75.
Buyers also agreed to buy crocodiles that will hatch from incubated eggs early next year and as well as reptiles of other ages.
"This live-crocodile sale is probably the first of its kind in the world," Pentolfe said. "It was a well-planned sale to set benchmarks for live- animal values in the crocodile industry in South Africa."
Crocodiles are bred for their skins, used to make goods such as shoes, bags and belts, and also for their meat. Nile crocodiles are bred mainly in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa.
The region exported about 250000 skins a year, and 80000 of these were from South Africa at a market value of $20-million to $25-million, said Stefan van As, a former investment banker, who owns South Africa's Le Croc crocodile breeding farm and tannery. He expects to have 120000 crocodiles by the middle of next year.
- Bloomberg
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