The experience is often combined with luxury alpine resort accommodation.
Sixty deer industry participants from Canada, China, Norway, Russia, Kazakhstan and New Zealand attended the congress.
It was held in the north-eastern fertile plains of Kazakhstan around Ust-Kamenogorsk – a couple of hours south by road from the east Russian border – followed by a tour 600km away to the east towards Mongolia in the Altai region.
The Altai industry has changed markedly by necessity. Chinese and Korean demand once saw top-end whole stick velvet prices at $US800/dry kilogram and higher.
However, consistency of quality from competing NZ product and home-grown antlers in China and Korea has seen farmer returns fall to US$260-$300/kg. NZ product can earn US$400/dry kilogram in these Asian markets, on a par or better than the similar Altai product.
While this limits profitability for local maral deer farmers, the healing features of antler from the region are well known. Its reputation as an immune stimulant and use in therapy is advancing rapidly in the domestic market.
The Altai region in eastern Kazakhstan and Russia farms about 82,000 maral deer, producing 51 dry tonnes of antler per year from 150 farms. Maral seem to be a midway cross between elk and Eastern European Red deer. Individual animals can produce between 4-7kg of velvet per head.
Nurlan Toktarov’s maral farm was accommodation for the NZ group. It has also been used as a health spa resort and personal retreat for various Kazakhstan presidents.
