Texas Hunter Pays $350,000 to Kill Endangered Black Rhino in Controversial Hunt
A Texas oil heir won the right to hunt and kill an endangered black rhino in a controversial auction.
Corey Knowlton is a Texas oil heir and an avid hunter. In January 2014, Knowlton bid $350,000 on a permit issued by Namibia's Misitry of Environment and Tourism at an auction by the Dallas Safari Club. Once he was granted the permit, Knowlton faced harsh criticism by animal welfare groups from around the world. But Knowlton believes that this kill is necessary to save the endangered species. The money from the winning $350,000 bid will go towards government anti-poaching efforts in Namibia. The older male rhinos no longer contribute to the gene pool and could actually harm or kill younger males. The rhino that has been sanctioned as a high threat to the herd actually killed another male rhino last year in a gruesome fight.
But animal activists like International Fund for Animal Welfare's director Azzedine Downes believes there are other ways:
"We'll simply never agree with that. There's a lot of other things that we can and must do in order to protect these animals."
Still, Cory Knowlton hunted the rhino and on Monday, it was killed. The rhino was killed by a high-powered rifle after a three day hunt with government officials on hand to make sure the right animal was killed.
Read more about the hunt with a detailed description on CNN.