Safari hunting property Mary River Station rumoured to be nearing sale, including hundreds of rare and endangered species

MARY River Station, where game hunters from around the globe come to shoot exotic species, will likely have a new owner within weeks

Monarto Zoo

MARY River Station, where game hunters from around the globe come to shoot exotic species, will likely have a new owner within weeks.

Owners Kevin and Carol Gleeson are rumoured to be close to inking a deal to sell the colourful property after several months on the market.

The $6 million price tag includes its menagerie of rare and endangered Scimitar Horned Oryx, Deer, Antelope and Banteng.

“Mary River Station is unique as it has the only private herd of Banteng in Australia and is one of only two destinations that Banteng may be legally hunted in the world,” real estate agent Ruralco said.

Mr Gleeson attracted attention in 2004 when he purchased a herd of 300 Scimitar Horned Oryx — which are extinct in the wild — from nearby Tipperary Station.

“I saved those animals by buying them,” Mr Gleeson said at the time.

“I feel personally that most people turned their backs on the animals (from Tipperary Station).”

The couple doubled the numbers of Oryx through a successful breeding program before controversially allowing two of the animals to be shot by game hunters in 2009.

Mr Gleeson said selling off the rights to shoot the two animals would help pay for the rest of the herd’s upkeep.

‘‘We have to shoot a few to get in the dollars,’’ he said, arguing that most game hunters are also conservationists.

“If you want to help an animal species survive today you’ve got to give it a value.”

But the shooting bubbled into controversy when it was later revealed one of the shooters was firearms executive Rob Nioa, who is also a political backer of fiery Queensland politician Bob Katter.

The 135,000ha, world-renowned safari hunting operation also has a 70km frontage with the Mary River and shares a 90km border with Kakadu National Park.

The Gleesons have owned the property since the mid 1990s, when they purchased is as a pastoral station.