A Texas oil heir who paid $350,000 for a permit to kill one of the world's 5,000 remaining black rhinos has bagged his trophy.
Corey Knowlton, whose father owns one of America's fastest growing energy firms, made the kill in the African bush Monday in what he says was not a blood-thirsty hunt but a bid to help save the species.
'I felt like from day one it was something benefiting the black rhino,' Knowlton, 36, told CNN from Namibia just after a team of native experts helped lead him to the beast.
Success? Texas oil heir Corey Knowlton, who paid $350,000 for a permit to kill one of the world's 5,000 remaining black rhinos, has bagged his trophy
Bagged it Monday: Knowlton won one of three annual permits to hunt the animal issued each year by Namibia--home to around 2,000 of the remaining rhinos--which says his $350K will be used toward anti-poaching experts
'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.'
Knowlton won one of three annual permits to hunt the animal issued each year by Namibia - home to around 2,000 of the remaining rhinos - which says his $350K will be used toward hiring anti-poaching experts.
From day one it was something benefiting the black rhino Trophy hunter Corey Knowlton, after killing the black rhinoNamibia's Ministry of Environment and Tourism flags specific rhinos for these hunts, males they say are no longer of breeding age and that pose a threat to more virile, younger males in the area.
However, since winning the auction in 2014, Knowlton has faced a barrage of criticism by detractors who say his claim that killing endangered rhinos to help them is total hogwash.
'We'll simply never agree with that,' International Fund for Animal Welfare director Azzedine Downes told CNN. 'There's a lot of other things that we can and must do in order to protect these animals.'
The number of Black Rhinos left in Africa has fallen from 70,000 50 years ago to just 5,000.
Namibia controversially allows a small number of the animals, normally older male bulls, to be hunted each year with fees going to fund anti-poaching efforts.
'I felt like from day one it was something benefiting the black rhino,' Knowlton, 36, said from the Namibian bush just after a team of native experts helped lead him to the beast
'I believe in the survival of the species': Knowlton, son of private energy firm BASA founder Lary Knowlton, has been big game hunting with his family for years and says he's all for helping endangered animals
They claim the strategy has led to their black rhino population doubling between 2001 and 2012.
'At this point, 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 before the hunt.
It's going down the right way, in the most scientific way that it can possibly happen Trophy hunter Corey KnowltonMore than 150,000 people signed petitions calling on the US Fish and Wildlife Service not to grant Mr Knowlton a permit to bring the carcass home.
But the agency decided that as the $350,000 was going toward conservation efforts, allowing the carcass to be brought to the US would not breach the endangered species act.
Last year they approved a similar permit for another American hunter, Las Vegas-based investor Michael Luzich, who paid $200,000 directly to the Namibian government to kill a Black Rhino.
Since publishing the initial request in November, the US Fish and Wildlife Service received more than 15,000 comments, as well as petitions with about 152,000 signatures demanding that it be denied.
'I think people have a problem just with the fact that I like to hunt': Knowlton's trophy room is pictured here in February 2012
Failed to block its import: More than 150,000 people signed petitions calling on the US Fish and Wildlife Service not to grant Mr Knowlton a permit to bring the rhino carcass home
'At this point, 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 said before the rhino hunt
'United States citizens make up a disproportionately large share of foreign hunters who book trophy hunts in Africa,' said Dan Ashe, director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, in a statement.
'That gives us a powerful tool to support countries that are managing wildlife populations in a sustainable manner and incentivize others to strengthen their conservation and management programs.'
Humane Society of the United States chief executive Wayne Pacelle said the federal agency is sending a 'mixed message,' noting rhino poaching is on the rise.
Knowlton, a consultant to a hunting organisation in Virginia, is pictured on his own Facebook page posing with numerous dead animals.
'I think people have a problem just with the fact that I like to hunt,' Knowlton told CNN. 'I want to see the black rhino as abundant as it can be. I believe in the survival of the species.'
Critically endangered: The number of black rhinos left has fallen from 70,000 fifty years ago to just 5,000 and critics say Knowlton is nothing more than a trophy hunter (FILE)
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