Buffalo with 'the most unbelievable horn span in history' at 56 inches becomes the world's most expensive after it is bought for a staggering £8.5 million

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Meet Horizon, the world's most expensive buffalo, worth a staggering £8.5 million.

One of the largest buffalo, with a 56 inch horn span, Horizon is South Africa's most sought after buffalo bull.

Horizon is such hot property that a 25% share in him sold for over £2.1 million in February to South Africa-based businessman Peter Bellingham.

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Horizon is now the most valuable buffalo in the world, valued at £8.5 million or 176 million South African Rand

Valuable purely due to his large horn span and impeccable genes, Horizon is a goldmine, with every farmer wanting a piece of the gene pool.

One of Africa's big five, Game Reserve owners buy buffalo to attract tourists and Horizon offers them the opportunity to breed the biggest and the best herds.

And with hunting big business in Africa, buffalos with large horns spans like Horizon entice the most experienced of hunters in search of a prize catch.

Horizon produces such good quality offspring that he more than triples the value of every buffalo he impregnates, with a normal pregnant buffalo worth an average £38,000, to one carrying Horizon's offspring being worth over £121,000.

The prized buffalo was originally sold by game breeder Jacques Malan.

He is now owned by four South African businessmen and resides on the farm of one of his owners, Piet du Toit, in Rustenberg, South Africa.

Horizon's 56 inch wide horn span is exceptionally long for buffalo, and helps him stand out from the crowd

Valued at a record 176 million South African Rand (£8.5million) Horizon has surpassed the 40 million South African Rand (£1.9 million) paid for a buffalo named Mystery in 2013.

Each of the businessmen own a 25% stake in Horizon and each can breed him with ten cows every year. They each then have the rights for the offspring that their ten cows produce.

Game breeder Piet du Toit, 45, said: 'Horizon is a buffalo that has the most unbelievable horn span in history, he is disease free and he is the biggest that has been breeding.

The buffalo's 'impeccable genes' means he is much sought after for breeding, and raises the value of the female cows he impregnates

'An average buffalo's horn span is between 36 and 40 inches, Horizon's horns are 56 inches.

'It is rare that a bull carries genetics to his next generation, sometimes a good bull has offspring that is not of great quality.

'But in Horizon's case his offspring have unbelievable genetics and we therefore know that we are guaranteed excellent offspring by Horizon.

'By breeding the super cows and an incredible bull like Horizon we make sure that we only have the best quality buffalo genetics.

'Breeders in South Africa are the biggest market for such animals and are willing to pay incredible record prices for the genes of buffaloes they believe can increase their herd's horn span.

'Horizon's offspring will be sold to other farms in South Africa and indigenous farms that want to incorporate an excellent bloodline into their herds.

'The females will be sold as breeders as it is an excellent opportunity for farmers to breed with top quality buffalo genes.

'Horizon is now at our farm and we are expecting the new shareholder's cows in July.'

African buffalo used to have horns spanning wider than 1.5 metres but hunting removed the largest animals.

Breeders are now trying to restore the big horned buffalo through breeding programmes - which is why buffalo with a wide horn span can fetch millions.