Antlers used for medicinal tonic

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Exotic game ranch caters to Oriental market

Barns, corrals and fences are almost completed here in preparation for the raising of woodland elk and prairie bison.

The exotic game ranch, located 40 km southeast of High Prairie, will cater to a large Oriental market for velvet antlers in Canada and Pacific rim countries. A similar wildlife ranch is in operation at Kikino Metis settlement near Lac La Biche.

Since the 1985 Cherynobl nuclear accident, Chinese, Japanese and other oriental buyers have looked to Canada for antler supplies to produce a medicinal tonic believed to increase the vitality of the human body, says wildlife expert Lyle Renecker.

The maral deer, indigenous to the Soviet Union and once the major source of antlers, are suspected of being contaminated from the accident and Canadian elk are the favourite substitute, adds Renecker. Antlers from elk (which regenerate annually) can sell for as much as $150 a kilogram and are harvested around May, when there is still blood inside, explains Renecker.

The Kikino Wildlife Ranching Association is at present raising elk and bison breeding stock for sale to 65 exotic game farms in Alberta and to many more across North America. After starting with a herd of 24 elk and 24 bison in 1979, Kikino operators now have about 80 elk and 120 buffalo at their 7,000 acre ranch, according to ranch director Lyman Bellerose.

"Elk are easier and cheaper to raise than cattle because it's like raising them in the wild when we let them roam around a 5,000 acre fenced area. We don't have to watch them very closely, we just patrol the fences," says Bellerose.

"The elk market now, is for breeding stock. We sold two males last spring, but we are looking at the market for velvet antlers," he adds. The bison at the Kikino ranch are also for breeding sales but Bellerose hopes to eventually sell meat and hides.

The sale of elk meat is currently prohibited in Alberta, but games sales regulations are at present under consideration, says Jim Struters of Alberta Fish and Wildlife.

Prairie bison, however, are classified as domestic animals and the sale of buffalo hides and meat is legal in the province for those with permits. There are about 5,000 bison being raised commercially in Alberta, according to Bill Hall, assistant director for the management division of Fish and Wildlife.

Government regulations must be followed for game farm permits. Licensed operators must own at least 60 acres of land and have a 10 acre fenced area, holding pens and facilities.

Provisions for Metis lands allow Metis operators to be granted licenses. However, Indians must first obtain ownership of private lands, since reserves are not considered private land holdings, explains Struters.

East Prairie Metis settlement ranch operators plan to start a herd with 50 elk and 11 bison.

"We hope to get the animals fairly soon," says Alphonse L'Hirondelle, chairman of East Prairie.

The game ranch will employ two full-time staff and hire more workers as required.