Hercules the Antelope Sells for Record $692,000 at Auction

  • Sale price more than three times the previous record
  • South Arica game ranching industry growing at 10% a year

Greater Kudu in Botswana.

Photographer: Richard Du Toit/Getty Images
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The sale of a greater Kudu bull, a type of antelope prized by hunters, more than tripled a previous record at a game auction in northern South Africa going for a price of 9.4 million rand ($692,000).

The animal known as Hercules is about 12 years old, with spiral horns of more than 66 inches (1.7 meters) long, and was bought by a group of game farmers from the Thabazimbi area, 235 kilometers (146 miles) northwest of Johannesburg, according to the seller, Dries Visser of Dries Visser Pure-Bred Game. The previous record for a kudu bull was 2.4 million rand.