A Namibian annual wildlife auction sold 175 rare species in an hour on Friday for a record price, among them the black rhinoceros and the African buffalo, the environment and tourism ministry said.

The animals were snapped up by breeders and game farm owners for N$19-million.

"There are hardly any disease-free buffalo for sale in our country," one buyer told AFP.

"They are high in demand for stocking up game parks and some of them for trophy hunting."

The eight black rhinos, which is an endangered species, were sold for N$500 000 each.

Frans Indongo, who runs a game farm northeast of the capital Windhoek spent N$1-million for a group of sable antelopes.

"I need new animals for the gene pool of the herd of sable antelopes on my tourism lodge," said Indongo.

All animals were caught in the Etosha National Park, some 700 kilometres north of Windhoek, and the Waterberg Plateau Park, about 300 km northeast of the capital, and put in temporary pens from which they will be transported to their new owners.

According to Environment and Tourism Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah the record prices reflected the high value of Namibia's wild game.

"About 800 000 tourists are coming to Namibia every year for sightseeing and also for trophy hunting, so the value of our wild animals is very high and it shows that we must look well after these prized assets," he said.

Last year's auction fetched N$9.2-million, with proceeds going to the Game Products Trust Fund, a fund created for the country's conservation and research programmes.

AFP