It’s a crazy world out in New York on the infamous Wall Street with the Bears, Bulls, the Dow, and the S&P. Millions of people invest in the stock market every day. Wall Street stock brokers, help with investors on buying, selling, how much to invest, when to invest, so forth and so on so they can have the best chance at a return on their investments. Similar to the stocks down on Wall Street, there is a big market brewing and growing in the ranching world every single day. This market I am speaking of won’t be found at the starting bell on Friday morning with the folks at Squak Box rattling off yesterdays closing numbers. Rather, you’ll find these stocks out on several thousand ranches across Texas (and the United States for that matter). Welcome, to the Exotic “Stock” Market.
Exotics and Texas
Exotic game animals in Texas have long had a presence. From the days of the historic Y.O. Ranch in Mountain Home stretching up its first high fence and stocking with certain exotic species, to the King Ranch in deep south Texas releasing Nilgai antelope onto their Norias Division with foresight to what the species might bring to the ranch in the form of hunting revenue. Exotic game, has thrived extremely well on Texas ranches in part to do with how much the Lone Star State resembles many similarities to their native lands. You may ask yourself, what is the driving factor for this Exotic Stock Market? That answer can be summed up in one sentence. With value of each of these animals, comes the necessary conservation to keep them thriving and continuing for many years to come. Many species such as the Axis, Blackbuck, Aoudad, Scimitar Oryx, Fallow, Kudu, Sable, ect, have a high demand in Texas by local and out of state hunters. With this high demand in hunting, creates a supply need by our Texas ranches thus, creates a reason for landowners to invest in propagating these herds. Without this high demand from the hunting industry, there would be little to no value placed on these animals, and then, would cause a lack of interest to invest money and raising these critters. Take the Scimitar Oryx from Northern Africa for example. Texas is estimated to have nearly 12,000 Oryx in the state and only 400 in the wild of Africa. With hunting creating a conservation initiative, the Scimitar Oryx is thriving extremely well here and we have even begun to send a few back to Africa in repopulation efforts.
Getting Started
For an existing or new landowner looking to get into the Exotic “Stock” Market, things can be a little confusing and strange. Much like the hustle and bustle of Wall Street, there’s several thousand animals moving in Texas everyday by hundreds of animal brokers. What I recommend to our clients is to selectively choose what animals they’d like to see on their ranch and then derive a plan to make their investments profitable. When we go to stock ranches, we choose only the best breeding stock we can obtain either from our own herds, or from our partner herds. This ensures that you as a landowner, are getting the best “bang for you buck” when investing. One note that I will add here, is that a strong team or partnership is key to being successful. There is several and I mean several people in this industry, but pick one respectable person who you trust and stick by them. Many times, people will deal with many different individuals and will end up overtime loosing sight of their original goal of the quality they desired of certain species (plus loyalty is a thing you don’t see much of anymore). Remember, pick the animals you would enjoy seeing on your property every day and then make that investment profitable, that’s the whole idea.
Future Outlook
When we look at the future of exotic game in Texas, we must first look at its past and where we are in the present. Twenty five years ago, the exotic market was not what it is now by no means with current record high prices, soaring demand, and incredible quality being propagated. Although exotics have always been key in Texas, here recently they have boomed. Since 2020, we have been living with COVID-19 worldwide. In the early stages, I was concerned that the hunting industry in Texas would take a huge hit as would the exotic animal market. Contrary to my belief, I was proven wrong. What we witnessed in 2020 was a large increase in exotic hunts booked which was directly from USA hunters not being able to travel to Canada, Africa, Spain, New Zealand, and so forth. These individuals still wanted to hunt and go on their trips, but where would they go? Their answers, were found in Texas. Record number of hunters flooded the state in 2020 and 2021 to pursue exotic game without having to deal with the testing, quarantine, or travel headaches associated with airplanes at the time. Now, the exotic market it still strong as ever and even climbing with some species. The future outlook for exotic animal investments is very promising for landowners in Texas just from what we have seen in our past and where we are currently.
In Closing
A big thing to remember in the Exotic “Stock” Market, is to weigh your long term outlook versus your short term gain. Investing correctly and propagating the proper animals on your property can help you diversify your business portfolio, promote wildlife conservation on your property, and you’ll enjoy raising these unique critters from all over the globe.
By: Calan J. Ahrens
Ahrens Ranch and Wildlife
432.386.7477
