(GunReports.com) — Through an historic collaboration between governments, one hunter will have a chance to hunt a black rhino, help manage and conserve the species, and import a rare trophy to the U.S. in 2014. DSC will sell the permit during its annual convention and expo Jan. 9-12 in Dallas.
The Dallas Safari Club (DSC) has been selected by the Government of the Republic of Namibia to auction a special hunting permit, with all proceeds earmarked for rhino conservation in that country. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has promised full cooperation with a qualified buyer.
“The whole model of wildlife conservation, of sustainable-use conservation, is that any resource, if it has a value, it will stay there, it will continue to flourish,” says DSC Executive Director Ben Carter. Carter expects the DSC’s to fetch as much as $750,000, every dime of which will go to the Conservation Trust Fund for Namibia’’s Black Rhino.
The Conservation Trust Fund for Namibia’s Black Rhino will receive 100 percent of the hunting permit sale price. Both DSC and contracted auctioneer Ed Phillips of Houston offered to forego their customary sales commissions to support the special cause.
An unprecedented sale price is expected.
“This fundraiser is the first of its kind for an endangered species,” said DSC Executive Director Ben Carter, “and it’s going to generate a sum of money large enough to be enormously meaningful in Namibia’s fight to ensure the future of its black rhino populations.”
The Government of the Republic of Namibia approved the permit in accordance with CITES provisions to generate crucial funding for rhino conservation initiatives including anti-poaching efforts—while at the same time managing the black rhino population within Mangetti National Park, where the hunt will take place.
Science has shown that removing certain individual animals can help rhino populations grow.
Black rhinos commonly fight to the death. In fact, the species has the highest combat mortality rates of any mammal. Approximately 50 percent of males and 30 percent of females die from combat-related injuries. Extremely aggressive bulls are known to be population-limiting factors in some areas. Selectively harvesting these animals can lead to population increases and greater survival.
Rampant and indiscriminate poaching is threatening rhino populations across Africa. Rhino horn has high black-market value, especially in Southeast Asia, for ornamental uses and folk remedies, although medical research has disproved actual benefits.
Louisiana conservation attorney John J. Jackson, III, helped facilitate the auction item and proceeds will be channeled through his Conservation Force, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity, for income tax deduction purposes.
The winning bidder may hire his or her qualified outfitter or guide to lead the hunt, which will be accompanied by Namibian wildlife officials who will carefully monitor the rhinoceros harvested during the hunt. The winning bidder will be sent after an older male rhino that has already produced offspring. The removal of an older bull will actually encourage more younger males to begin reproducing.
“Black rhinos tend to have a fairly high mortality rate,” Carter says. “Generally speaking, out of a population of 2,000, harvesting three rhinos over a couple or three years has no impact on the health of the rhino herd at all.”
