Records for sales of Ankole livestock have been set at an auction in South Africa

Last weekend, an Ankole cattle auction took place at South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's Phala Phala farm (located near Bela-Bela in Limpopo province). A three-year-old pregnant heifer named Queen Arusha set a South African record by becoming the most expensive female livestock animal ever sold across all cattle breeds. According to Netwerk24, the transaction amounted to 6.4 million rands, which is also a record price for this breed. The buyer of the animal wished to remain anonymous.

As JP Smith of the Veilingswinkel auction house noted, the buyer acquired not just an animal, but access to future genetic production. Queen Arusha possesses an exceptionally strong pedigree. A single good female is capable of producing numerous calves over her lifetime, and her genetics can be disseminated through natural mating, artificial insemination, and other reproductive technologies. Additionally, two doses of female sexed semen from the bull Optimus Prime (the largest Ankole bull in South Africa with horns measuring 173 cm each, who also belongs to Ramaphosa) were sold at the auction for 250,000 rands each, setting a new local record for sexed semen across all breeds.

The heifer originated from the Ntaba Nyoni farm, which Ramaphosa founded in 2004 after acquiring 40 Ankole cows and 3 bulls from Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. Ramaphosa first encountered this breed during a visit to Uganda. Ankole cattle are distinguished by their hardiness, resistance to parasites, longevity (living up to 25 years), and are famous for their enormous curved horns up to 2.4 meters long. To date, the South African president is the largest owner of Ankole livestock in the country.