THE outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in KwaZulu-Natal has forced the Ezemvelo Wildlife Authority to withdraw 200 nyalas from its annual auction, resulting in a loss of almostR70 million

"This year's auction will be more conservative, largely due to the recent outbreak of FMD in February. With control measures still in place this has necessitated the withdrawal of 200 nyala from the auction in keeping with the stipulations of the Animal Diseases Act, which bars the removal of cloven-hoofed animals from FMD areas," said Maureen Zimu, the authority's spokesperson.

Zimu said the price of each nyala ranged from R300000 to R350000. She said the authority would make a substantial amount of money from auctioning off 35 white rhino, 84 blesbok, 50 springbok, 101 zebra, 10 giraffe, 16 hippo, 130 impala and 46 kudu. The farming community in KwaZulu-Natal has also incurred losses since the outbreak in February and the subsequent prohibited movement of cloven-hoofed animals or their products out of the controlled area, which includes Ingwavuma, north of Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, Mkuze Game Reserve and Pongola Nature Reserve.

Robin Barnsley of the KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union, which represents most of the province's commercial farmers, said the ban affected game and livestock farmers.

"We have been trying to meet Minister of Agriculture Tina Joemat-Pettersson to discuss lifting the ban without harming the country's export industry," he said. "Game farmers have problems because they need to sell their animals in order to reduce their load but can't because the animals cannot be moved."

He said livestock farmers could not sell meat products with the strict measures in place.

In its latest report on the outbreak, the Department of Agriculture said exports of cloven-hoofed animals not yet treated for the virus remained suspended.

"South Africa will be in a position to negotiate with its trading partners once the nationwide surveillance for FMD has been concluded, indicating that the rest of the country is free from infection," it said. KZN agriculture department head Sizwe Mkhize said only the minister could lift the ban.

"Although the export of meat products has been banned, processed products such as cheese are still being sold overseas," he said. The report said the disease was under control and that a second round of vaccination was under way. More than 93000 cattle have already been vaccinated.