Could letting someone kill an endangered black rhino help save the species?

First topic message reminder :



I have to say, I find this a remarkable quandary:

The Dallas Safari Club knows how to bring in the new year with a bang.

On Jan. 11, a rare permit to hunt and kill an endangered black rhino will be sold in Dallas to the highest bidder.

As the organization moves forward with the auction to raise as much as $1 million to help preserve the near-extinct double-horned rhinoceros, worldwide attention — and outrage over the plan to allow the killing of one animal to save the waning species — is focused on the effort.

“There has been a wide range of reaction,” said Ben Carter, executive director of the Dallas Safari Club. “There’s a lot of people out there, frankly, that are totally without any knowledge of how wildlife and conservation works.

“We’ve gotten emails, phone calls,” he said. “One email said, ‘If you auction off a permit to kill a rhino, we are going to kill you and your family.’ ”

But Carter said he and others know that selling the permit — the first to be sold in the United States allowing the hunting of one black rhino in Namibia — could make a better future for the critically endangered animals.

“This is a great opportunity to do something we are all going to be proud about,” Carter said. “It would be a terrible travesty to not have black rhinos roaming in their natural habitat. We hope they’ll be around for a long time to come.”

http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/12/22/5435606/dallas-auction-for-the-right-to.html

What is the "more direct tactic?" Hmmm....

Original Quill wrote:What is the "more direct tactic?"  Hmmm....

I must admit African Game Hunting if not the Area of protection I am most involved with, I will also Admit African Game Hunting is one of the hardest to solve because of the poverty on that continent.

....but for areas I am more knowledgeable about like Whaling and Australian Local habitats (act local, think global)

We are actually going very good on hunting in Australia, there is enough introduced pest species to keep the hunters occupied, plus tough gun laws means you don't get yahoos with ASRs shootin' up the bush. And the Kangaroos do need a cull every so often, they have evolved their breeding speed to compensate for predation that no longer occurs (Aboriginals and before that the mega marsupials which they wiped out)

Regarding Whaling, Well for starters the Australian Gov't could actually enforce our Whale sanctuaries. If Japan don't like it too bad. If it comes to War so be it, at least for once it will we a war fought for something other than money. If they don't want to themselves they can just let an Armed Sea Shepherd vessel dock and refuel in Australian Ports. Really the lack of a nation letting them dock is the main reason Sea Shepherd don't arm themselves.

 :::grouch:: :::grouch:: :::grouch:: :::grouch:: :::grouch:: 

But like someone commented regarding the English versus French transition to democracy, sometimes it is easier to just cut off some heads

VIVA LA REVOLUTION  ::sexbnan: ::sexbnan: ::sexbnan: ::sexbnan: ::sexbnan: ::sexbnan: ::sexbnan: 

As an original member of the Rainbow Warrior crew, I couldn't agree with you more. No I didn't sail on her, but for the work I did for Greenpeace they made me a crew member.

I'll let Bee sound off on the difference between English and French standards of fairness. He has a lot to say...every bit of which I agree with.

   ONE MORE thing that I do note here is that the country in question is NAMIBIA, after all, and not one of it's slightly more 'civilised', and slightly less scary, neighbours...

An undemocratic, fairly young and yet somewhat broken country still run by despots, crim's and suspect characters, with high rates of poverty and great chasms between the rich and the poor.. like so many places in Africa.

IT is often on the USA and UN restricted trade lists ~ where a lot of companies refuse to send goods to Namibia, nor trade with anyone based there..  ::resmahauth:: 

Namibia is also one of those countries that are still often finding themselves up there in the high ranked categories, on those travellers/tourism advisory lists ~ maybe NOT always on top with with perpetually unruly places like North Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Serbia and other cesspits of the world ~  but all the same conditions are still changing in these "new" African states !!!    

ANYBODY who thinks South Africa or Kenya are bad enough, would certainly want to avoid the likes of Namibia, Botswana, Niger, Nigeria, and the Congo ~ all such tourist's  delights..  Makes Burma look better by the day, don't they !