A permit to hunt an endangered African black rhino sold for $350,000 at a Dallas auction. The Safari Club, which sponsored the closed-door event Saturday night says the auction was done in the name of conservation, to save the threatened black rhinoceros. All proceeds will be donated to the Namibian government and will be earmarked for conservation efforts. The buyer of the permit for a hunt in the African nation of Namibia remains anonymous.
Ben Carter, the Safari Club’s executive director also said the rhino that the winner will be allowed to hunt is old, male and nonbreeding – and that the animal was likely to be targeted for removal anyway because it was becoming aggressive and threatening other wildlife.
Hunt the black rhino to save the black rhino. That was the Dallas Safari Club’s approach to a fundraiser for efforts to protect the endangered species. But many don’t agree with this idea. The Humane Society and the International Fund for Animal Welfare said that since the rhinos are considered endangered, they should be preserved and protected, instead of being killed. Also, wildlife and animal rights groups, and the FBI said it was investigating death threats against members of the club. Critics have also said any hunting of a rhino sends a bad message to the public.
“This auction is telling the world that an American will pay anything to kill their species,” Jeffrey Flocken, North American regional director of the Massachusetts-based IFAW, said this past week. “This is, in fact, making a spectacle of killing an endangered species.”
However, the Dallas Safari Club had been expecting the permit to bring $250,000 to $1 million at an auction held during its annual convention. So, believe they’re not disappointed.
