Sable cost

[zenbear]

Hi All,
Why are sable so expensive? Are they hard to breed? just wondering.



thanks-Jerry

 

[TOM]

Because they are beautiful. I have often wondered the same thing and that is the only answer I can come up with. They are more scarce than your average Kudu or Gemsbok (especially in certain areas). They are also desired more by hunters, hence the price. Sorry if my answer isn't very scientific but that's my current opinion on it. I'm sure there are guys from Africa who can give a better answer.

 

[enysse]

I don't know...they are like Cape buffalo in price. Short in supply and high in demand I guess.

 

[tap]

from what I hear they are hard to breed out of their native areas. My ph's say they don't do so well in south africa and other species are just that much more hardy. From what I've seen in zambia they are even a bit finicky in thier home areas as well.

 

[Diamondhitch]

Supply and demand. They are available over a smaller natural range than many other animals, small quotas in the wild, they don't do well outside their native range and they are highly desired.

There have been a few discussions on here mentioning problems with breeding sable, from aggressive bulls killing each other to mortality due to cold, drought, etc that has a far greater effect on sable than many other animals. there is a Sable study that I recently read detailing their requirements that really shed some light on the subject, rainfall in particular seems to be a major restricting factor, they only occupy areas that receive rainfall amounts that fall within a narrow range.

Having said that I am sure there is much more to it as well.

 

[Norwegianwoods]

I have seen huge differences in trophy prices for Sable. So if I ever consider to hunt Sable, I will spend a lot of time to check the prices and the quality of the hunts.

 

[PaulT]

I was fortunate enough to take a very nice bull in the Gwaii region of Zimbabwe in 2000 after looking at exactly 19 other bulls previous to the one I took (they were very numerous in that particular area and my P.H wanted me to take a "nice" one).

The Sable antelope would be THE most visually striking animal it has ever been my privilage to see on the hoof, or on the ground for that matter.

I wasn't particularily struck by them being overly difficult to approach as we had little to no difficulty in nearing any previous bulls in order to assess them but my experience with them may be an anomoly.

My most vivid memory of Sable will be the bull we had a head on collision with on our second last day that tipped the trackers out of the 4x4 and nearly rolled it completely over. The bull was wounded with a muzzle loader ball under the front leg and collided with our vehicle at about 60km's/hr.
Both my p.h and i bailed out of the truck as it righted itself back on the track and accounted for 7 poachers dogs which were trailing the Sable !

Predictibly, no-one showed up to claim their prize.

 

[Kalahari416]

A number of factors come into play, but Diamondhitch has pretty much summed it up.
Norwegianwoods, if you do not hunt them in the wild, it is all about inches equals dollars.
In South Africa, every inch you go over 40/42 the price will go up.
You could be lucky and get a 44 in Zim or elsewhere for the standard listed price.