A Dallas man pays $350,000 to kill a rhino and controversy follows along with death threats. Corey Knowlton, who paid $350,000 to hunt and kill an endangered black rhino in Namibia, claimed that he did it for the survival of the species.
A Dallas man, who bid $350,000 to kill a rhino, is stirring up criticism from animal-rights advocates. With CNN’s cameras following him, Corey Knowlton, a well-known hunter from Texas, recently traveled to Namibia to enjoy the ultimate kill.
The hunter killed a black rhinoceros because he paid the government $350,000 to do so. The Dallas man revealed that the money he paid to kill the rare animal will be used to protect the species. According to experts, there are about 4,000 black rhinos living in the wild, that number has significantly dropped from 70,000 in the 1960s.
The 36-year-old hunter had another reason for the trophy kill – the rhino, which is an older bull was harming younger males.
According to his bio, Corey Knowlton, who is a member of the Dallas Safari Club, has hunted widely on six continents and took more than 120 species, including a Super Slam of wild sheep and the “Big Five” in Africa. Talking to CNN, he explained his decision to add the black rhino to his already impressive collection.
“The whole world knows about this hunt and I think it’s extremely important that people know it’s going down the right way, in the most scientific way that it can possibly happen,” Knowlton told CNN. “I think people have a problem just with the fact that I like to hunt … I want to see the black rhino as abundant as it can be. I believe in the survival of the species.”
An emotional Knowlton said just after killing the animal:
“I felt like from day one it was something benefiting the black rhino. Being on this hunt, with the amount of criticism it brought and the amount of praise it brought from both sides, I don’t think it could have brought more awareness to the black rhino.”
After receiving dozens of death threats for his move, the FBI has stepped in to investigate the matter. Jeffrey Flocken, the North America Regional Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), an organization that defends animal rights, slammed the hunter. Flocken shared:
“From a biological perspective, the long-term survival of an imperiled species is extremely complicated; trophy hunting not only flies in the face of a precautionary approach teo wildlife management, but in some cases it has also been found to undermine it.A case in point: hunters are not like natural predators. They target the largest specimens; those with the biggest tusks, manes, antlers or horns.”
What are your thoughts on the Corey Knowlton?
