EXOTIC ANIMALS SALE DRAWS 500 PEOPLE

JACKSON -- Vivian Snider came looking for a few oddities and a good buy. She found them both this weekend at the Mid-America Animal Auction.

She left the sale with buffaloes, pheasants, hedgehogs, a red fox, a pair of black swans and peacocks.

Snider, who operates the Pine Mountain Wild Animal Park in Pine Mountain, Ga., attends at least three exotic animal auctions a year.

More than 500 people attended the exotic animal auction at Flickerwood Arena this weekend.

Burton Sipp owns the Animal Kingdom Zoo in New Jersey. He bought buffalo but sold about five donkeys.

In the past 10 years, he has seen the sudden rise and fall of some exotic animal breeds.

"Zebras, buffalo and primates are always stable, but nothing else is worth the money," he said, adding that emus, ostriches, and pot-bellied pigs were get-rich-quick ideas for some buyers.

Eight years ago a pot-bellied sow and eight piglets sold for $30,000 at the auction. Now the prices have dropped drastically.

"A lot of people got burned and lost money," he said. "The bottom just fell out" of the market.

Most exotic animal buyers and sellers are in the business just because they love animals.

"Most people just love animals," said Nancy Caldwell, who worked in the auction office. "Abusing them is not profitable."

Buyers from Connecticut to California, including the buyer for musician Michael Jackson, attended the three-day sale. About 1,500 animals were expected to be sold during the weekend. And it was Lawson Burgfeld's job to check every one of them. Burgfeld, who lives in Fruitland, is one of seven livestock enforcement officers with the Missouri Department of Agriculture.

"We ensure that they have the proper vaccinations and health certificates," he said.

Before any animal can be sold or bought at the sale, they must meet health and industry standards set by the department.

And a wide variety of animals, including African and Indian antelopes, camels, kangaroos, elk, spotted donkeys, llamas and zebras were sold.

Prices ranged from $50 to $2,000 and higher. A reindeer sold for $1,075 Sunday afternoon while a miniature donkey sold for about $1,500.

"Llamas and donkeys bring good money," said Vicki Lantz, office manager.

Neal Franke and her husband, Todd, began the animal auction business about two years ago. Mid-America Animal Auction holds two exotic animal sales a year in Southeast Missouri.

In addition to the auction, animals were also sold on consignment. At the end of the sale, all remaining consignment animals were auctioned.