South African buffalo sells for record $3.25 million

JOHANNESBURG // South Africa's Stud Game Breeders' Association says a young buffalo bull sold at auction for a record 26 million rand ($3.25 million).

Owner Jacques Malan of Lumarie Game Farm says the four years and 10-month-old bull "Horizon" has horns measuring 130.5 centimetres.

He said on Tuesday that he applied a knowledge of genetics garnered from his father since childhood pursuing an aim "to breed back the old giants of the bush of Africa which have been hunted out over past centuries".

Horizon will be used for breeding.

The association said it is the most expensive wild animal ever sold in South Africa.

Horizon was sold at a weekend auction, fetching 8 million rand ($1 million) more than a buffalo sold last year.