Texas hunter Corey Knowlton harvests Namibian black rhino

Written by Conor Harrison, Lone Star Outdoor News

Corey Knowlton harvested a Namibian black rhino on Monday.

The hunt brings to a close one chapter of the story that erupted at the 2014 Dallas Safari Club convention, when Knowlton outbid several other hunters and purchased the hunt for $250,000. An additional $100,000 was given to DSC for the conservation effort, bringing the total raised to $350,000.

Knowlton took the rhino after several days of hunting at an undisclosed location in Namibia. Namibia sells several licenses to trophy hunters each year to cull older bulls from their herd. The money raised from the DSC auction is a record amount paid to hunt one of the rhinos.

According to a video from a CNN crew who were along to document the hunt, two shots from Knowlton, followed by a shot from his professional hunter, Hentie Van Heerden, and one more by Knowlton put the rhino down.

The hunt was put on by Namibia’s Ministry of Environment and Tourism, which had identified nearly 20 black rhinos in Namibia that meet the criteria for being hunted — old bulls past breeding age that often prevent younger bulls from mating with cows.

The funds from the hunt were put into a trust to be used specifically for black rhino conservation.

Several antihunting groups have filed litigation to stop the hunt or prevent Knowlton from importing the trophy back into the U.S.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved the import permit earlier this year, agreeing with conservationists, government officials and wildlife biologists who said the money generated from the hunt, along with the removal of the old bull, would be beneficial to the species survival.

Photo from Corey Knowlton’s public Facebook page.