Most Expensive Animal Products in the World

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When we think about animal products, it’s quite easy to imagine meats, milks and other common items. However, there are a lot more things that animals give us, and some of them are as weird and wonderful as the wildlife they come from.

Some of these animal products are extremely rare or difficult to obtain, so they often come with an eye-watering price tag.

We’ve compiled a list of some of the most expensive animal products in the world, and we think you’ll be amazed at just what they cost!

1. Ambergris (Sperm Whale Vomit)

Ambergris is most commonly used as a fragrance note in the perfume industry. Although use of real ambergris is slowly being discontinued with synthetic scents being favored by perfume houses for ethical reasons. 

However, the substance, which is often found washed up on shore, is actually produced in the digestive systems of sperm whales. It is thought that it is produced as a result of indigestible materials such as cuttlefish bones.

Ambergris is a waxy, gray substance that, when freshly harvested, has a rather fecal odor to it. However, as it ages, the scent sweetens, which is why it is so commonly used in perfumes.

The cost of ambergris is so high because of its unique fragrance. It is in incredibly high demand, particularly in the Middle East and Arab nations. However, if you were looking to buy some, you’d need to fork out up to $40,000 per kilo!

2. King Cobra Venom

Snake bites kill as many as 138,000 people every year, so the importance of successful anti-venoms cannot be understated. However, the way that these anti-venoms are produced means going back to the very animal that caused the problem in the first place.

Anti-venoms for snake bites are made by injecting host animals (typically a horse) with greater and greater amounts of venom until it eventually starts producing antibodies. These antibodies are proteins that attack the venom and reverse its effects.

Of course, obtaining this venom is incredibly dangerous as the harvesters must get the snakes to bite so that venom is released. The venom is produced in the salivary glands of the snakes, and when it bites, the muscles in the head contract, forcing the venom out. This risky process is one of the main reasons that king cobra venom can cost as much as $153,000 per gallon.

But in addition to being used to treat snake bites, the king cobra’s venom is also thought to contain a compound known as ohanin which could be used in inflammatory drugs for things like arthritis.

3. Horseshoe Crab Blood

Each year, pharmaceutical companies harvest the blood from as many as 500,000 horseshoe crabs. What’s devastating is that as many as 30% of these crabs do not survive the process of being bled and this has led to a decline in the numbers in the wild.

It is for this reason that horseshoe crab blood is one of the most expensive animal products in the world, selling in the region of $60,000 per gallon. But while it is costly, it’s something that humans are unable to live without, and yet many of us don’t even realize the important role it plays in our lives.

The milky blue liquid came into the spotlight during the development of the Covid-19 vaccinations but it has been used to produce vaccines for many years. The blood of the horseshoe crab is the only known natural source of limulus amebocyte lysate which is a compound that can detect the presence of endotoxins. When it does, it wraps the bacteria in a jelly-like substance which tells scientists that this blend cannot be used for vaccines as it would be toxic.

4. Swiftlet Nests

In several Chinese-speaking countries in Asia, there is a bird called the swiftlet which is native to these areas. Unlike other birds, it does not make its nest from twigs, grass, and other natural items but instead uses its own saliva. The saliva hardens to form something that resembles a mineralized web.

This structure is seen as a delicacy in the native countries, but is also used in skincare and is even given as a gift. When eaten, it is believed that the swiftlet nest has a lot of nutritional benefits, and there is a legend that ancient Chinese royals would eat the nests to obtain eternal youth.

While there are swiftlet farms popping up in these countries, there is a lot of controversy surrounding them. But the natural supply of nests is not high, so it isn’t cheap to get your hands on this delicacy. In fact, for just a kilo, you’d have to pay as much as $2600!

5. Pule Cheese (Cheese Made from Donkey’s Milk)

In Serbia, there is a farm that is home to a herd of 100 Balkan donkeys. Here, farmers hand milk the females, known as Jennies, and need to gather 25 liters to make just a single kilo of pule cheese.

Pule cheese is highly sought after for its nutritional benefits. It is thought to contain much higher levels of calcium and vitamin C than cheese made with cow or goat milk. Plus, it’s bursting with fatty acids, which are good for heart health.

But since these donkeys are endangered and the production of pule cheese takes so much time, it comes with a high price tag. This white, crumbly cheese retails for as much as $576 per pound. However, while this is expensive, the proceeds go towards the conservation of the donkeys.

6. Vicuna Wool

In the high reaches of the Peruvian Andes lives a llama-like animal known as the vicuna. There are only around 200,000 vicunas in the wild, so conservation limits how much of their wool can be harvested. This is one of the main reasons that vicuna wool is so pricey. It is also a slow-growing wool, so it’s not as though farmers can harvest it in a hurry.

If you want to get your hands on a vicuna wool sweater, scarf, or any other garment, you’ll be looking to pay between $400 and $600 per kilo. That’s a lot compared to cashmere, which is sold at around $80 per kilo.

However, compare the two types of wool, and you see that vicuna is a lot more lightweight and warm. In addition to this, it has a beautiful natural color that rarely needs to be dyed and is incredibly fine and soft. If that wasn’t enough, vicuna wool is hypoallergenic, so it’s no wonder that it’s so sought after.

7. Kopi Luwak Coffee (Civet Cat Dung Coffee)

One of the most expensive but also controversial animal products in the world is Kopi Luwak coffee, which is commonly called cat poop coffee. Yes, that’s right, civet cats are fed coffee beans which are then digested where the enzymes in the stomach are believed to improve the taste. Once the beans are excreted, they are cleaned and used for brewing.

However, there is some argument over whether the coffee actually does taste better with one travel writer expressing that she found the coffee to be overly earthy and bitter. There are, of course, many other people that swear by the improved taste of cat poop coffee.

But even if you can get over the gross way that this coffee is produced, you have to ask yourself if you can live with the moral dilemma drinking it poses.

Produced on the Indonesian island of Bali, Kopi Luwak coffee comes from civet farms where the conditions are less than humane. The cats are caged in very small enclosures and are often only fed coffee beans which is anything but nutritional for them.

If you want to try the coffee, you’ll be looking at spending around $100 per cup. To purchase the beans, one can expect to pay as much as $600 a pound!

8. Beluga Caviar

Caviar is renowned as one of the most luxurious and expensive foods in the world, but the very best caviar comes from the beluga sturgeon, whose eggs can fetch as much as $34,500 per kilo!

But why are these eggs so pricey? The answer lies in the time it takes the female to produce her eggs. While these animals can live as long as 118 years, they only produce eggs around once every 18 years. Those who farm belugas cannot reap their profits for quite some time, hence the high price tag.

But more than this, the beluga has now become critically endangered in its native Caspian Sea. As a result of this, Iranian authorities have placed restrictions on the harvest of their eggs, and as such, the price goes up even more.

9. Manuka Honey

Compared to other types of honey, you can expect to pay as much as 100 times more for the same amount of manuka honey. This honey is only produced in New Zealand, which is one of the factors that affects its price.

Manuka honey is made when bees pollinate the manuka tree, which is a scrub brush native to New Zealand. However, one of the reasons that the price of this honey is so high is that the tree only has a flowering period of between two and six weeks. What’s more, this period can be negatively impacted by adverse weather conditions, so there is a limit on how much can be produced each year.

It is also a very highly acclaimed product as Manuka honey is known for its medicinal properties. For starters, it is excellent for skincare, hence the reason it is included in several cosmetic products. For things like acne, eczema, inflammation, and other skin complaints, Manuka honey is praised around the world.

Of course, the honey is also used as a food source, and compared to other honey, it is less sweet and has a slightly more bitter flavor. It is also much more intense in terms of flavor.

10. Snail Mucin (Snail Slime)

Snail mucin, more commonly referred to as snail slime, is a popular product in the beauty industry. While it was actually Chilean snail breeders that first noticed the skin benefits of snail mucin back in the 1980s, the Korean beauty industry really played on the idea and started producing a range of masks, creams, gels, and other skincare products.

It is thought that snail slime has the ability to reduce acne scars, improve fine lines and wrinkles, and hydrate the skin. These, among many other benefits, are one of the reasons that the product is so expensive. In fact, the snail mucin industry is worth around $314 million a year! Moreover, to buy snail mucin, it costs around $2600 per kilo.

There are some farmers that collect the mucus from live snails and then turn this into a powder. This is even more expensive and currently sells for a whopping $58,000 per kilo.

11. Pearls

Pearls are natural stones produced by molluscs. They occur when an irritant gets inside the shell of the mollusc which then produces a substance called nacre, or mother of pearl, and coats the irritant in it. The layers build up, and you’re left with the pearl.

These stones are most frequently used in jewelry and have been used for many hundreds of years, particularly in India and Europe. To date, the most expensive piece of pearl jewelry was a necklace owned by Mary Antionette, which sold for a staggering $32 million back in 2018.

However, there is one pearl, considered to be the largest and most expensive in the world, which weighs 75lbs and is valued at $100 million. And would you believe it was discovered by a hobbyist?!

Natural pearls are incredibly hard to find, which is why they come with such a high price tag. Because of this, farmers purposefully place irritants into a mollusk, which then produces a pearl. But the key difference here is that cultured pearls tend not to have the same layers and so are not as expensive.

12. Deathstalker Scorpion Venom

The deathstalker scorpion (Leiurus quinquestriatus) can deliver a bite that is described as being one hundred times more painful than a bee sting. It’s not exactly deadly to a human, but you wouldn’t want to experience that kind of pain. So, when the venom is harvested, those milking the scorpions are at risk, which is one reason the cost is so high.

But the real reason behind the price is that death scorpions produce such a small amount of venom in a single milking. If you wanted to produce a gallon of the stuff, you would need to milk the animal more than 2.6 million times. Although, if you somehow managed to do that, you could get up to $39 million for that gallon.

Realistically, sellers offer a drop the size of a grain of sugar for as much as $130. But what’s so special about this venom?

Well deathstalker scorpion venom contains chlorotoxins which are known for their ability to bind with cancer cells. This is important in the research and treatment of cancer as it can show where a tumor is and how big it is. What’s more, the venom could be used in drugs to treat conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, MS, and arthritis.

13. Funnel-Web Spider

A lot of us, myself included, would run away in horror if they ever encountered a creepy-looking funnel web spider. But while these are one of the most dangerous venomous spiders in Australia, their venom is important in the creation of anti-venoms.

Australia has only ever experienced 13 deaths as a result of funnel web bites, but none of these occurred after the introduction of the country’s anti-venom program. However, collecting the venom is, of course, very dangerous not to mention the fact that it can take up to 3000 milking sessions to produce enough for one round of anti-venom.

More than this, funnel-web venom can be used in medicines that could be used to treat conditions like obesity, stroke, liver disease, pain, and many even have anti-cancer properties. But for all of this goodness, you’ll have to fork out as much as $1350 a gram!

14. Cone Snail

Native to Australian Pacific waters and the Indian Ocean, the cone snail is one incredibly dangerous marine critter. It’s thought that any one snail has enough toxins to kill more than 700 people. Beachgoers are urged never to pick up a cone-shaped shell no matter how pretty it may be owing to this danger.

There are those that harvest the shells and for many years, they were considered among the most expensive shells out there, selling for thousands for just a single one.

There are more than 500 species of cone-shaped mollusks in this region of the world, but despite this the shells are still pretty rare, which is why they cost so much.

The toxin of the cone snail is also a lucrative business as it is highly effective in pain management. One drug that uses the toxin, called Prialt, is thought to be more than a thousand times more potent than morphine!

15. Deer Musk

Another of the most expensive scented animal products is the musk produced by the musk deer; a small animal native to Russia and Asia. The musk deer doesn’t get much bigger than 20 inches in height and only weighs around 25lbs when fully grown.

The male musk deer has a small pouch containing a gland at the front of the penis, which produces musk and this has long been used in the perfume industry. The pouch and gland are removed and chopped into pieces before being soaked in alcohol to release the aroma, which is incredibly sweet once it matures.

Owing to the fact that a deer must be killed in order to obtain the musk, there is a lot of controversy around the use of real musk. This is also a contributing factor of the price of musk. However, modern perfumers tend to go for synthetic options, but there are discussions around farming other types of deer with careful management for more ethical production.

Real deer musk is now really only sold on the black market and is thought to fetch as much as $20,000 per pound.

16. Tyrian Purple (Crushed up Sea Snails)

Back in ancient Rome, there would be vats of boiling water that contained hundreds of murex snails. These were used to create a purple dye, the color of which has long been associated with royalty. Today, the dye is produced by crushing up these snails, and one Tunisian historian has even set up a small business in his garden shed doing exactly that.

Tyrian purple is the most expensive dye in the world and is estimated to be around 15 times more valuable than gold. It sells for as much as $2500 per gram, and it’s so costly because of the number of snails you need to produce it. For just one gram of powder, you would need to crush around 120 Murex snails!