Comments on: Killing The Namibian Black Rhino for $350,000 UPDATED

By: vincelee76

vincelee76 — Thu, 21 May 2015 06:32:39 +0000

Only a complete coward would shoot the last dinosaurous , the black rhino. Will he go shoot the American bald eagle too?!! Such a complete coward. And he so shameless made up fake excuses of this old rhino may attack other rhino. Such nonsense. Rhino are vegeterians, they get along very well with other rhinos. Only a complete coward would hide behind a gun and shoot at endangered spices. Loser!! And what makes you think the $350000 will go to save the other animals?? This is 3rd world country in Africa you know. The dictators will take the money and keep it for themselves. What part of this reality don’t you understand? You people are unbelieveable. Only a complete coward would HIDE behind a gun and kill an endangered spices.

By: 2014 Blog Year In Review – Greg Laden's Blog

2014 Blog Year In Review – Greg Laden's Blog — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 20:18:25 +0000

[…] the Namibian Black Rhino for which a hunting permit was auctioned off for $350,000? That was a big story in January 2014. Did you know that the rhino is still alive, as the paperwork […]

By: Another Week in the Ecological Crisis, January 19, 2014 – A Few Things Ill Considered

Mon, 20 Jan 2014 12:57:59 +0000

[…] 2014/01/13: GLaden: Killing The Namibian Black Rhino for $350,000 […]

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Sat, 18 Jan 2014 06:41:11 +0000

I think you’ve missed the point. Male black rhinos can dominate a territory and sterile males factor into the problems of managing a reproducing group (not herd). If there was more space this would not be so much of an issue.

You are right about the differences, but there is still a higher order social interaction among animals even in a non herding species.

By: jonathan

jonathan — Sat, 18 Jan 2014 00:10:06 +0000

I will keep this as brief as I can: Social behavioral differences between the black and white rhino are HUGE. White ARE social and black are NOT. THIS IS HUGE in determining whether or not permits at ANY($) price can be issued. If YOU can GUARANTEE that this hunter is going to shoot a STERILE male, then I say go for it. Can THAT REALLY be done? If not, cancel the permit or substitute a HERD oriented animal, NOT the loner black rhino. Isn’t it bad enough that rhinos, in general, are still poached for asian “medicines?” You don’t “cull” solitary animals; you “cull” herds. Leave the black rhino alone…there’s your conservation.

By: ppnl

ppnl — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 04:54:27 +0000

I have hunted deer, squirrel, duck and fished. I love the taste of venison. I understand the joy of hunting. Squirrel dumplings are awesome.

I do not understand the appeal of a canned hunt. I wouldn’t cross the road to piss on such a hunter if they were on fire. The trophy from such a hunt should be a mark of shame.

I do not understand the appeal of killing a large animal just so you can brag about having killed it.

I would have no interest in killing the rhino. I would contribute to a fund to have it killed privately. It isn’t about the rhino as it is going to die anyway.

By: Sylvester B

Sylvester B — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 00:09:38 +0000

I don’t hunt, and would get no thrill out of shooting the rhino; but if the rhino was to be put down one way or the other I see no ethical problem with the auction. The money is to be put to good use. The emotions (sadness that a rare beast is to be killed) are good, but the rational decision is for Namibia to make the money while they can.

By: Lawrence

Lawrence — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 17:06:26 +0000

@ppnl – The cynic in me thinks the conservation groups like to allow these hunts to happen so that they can use them as their own fundraising tool.

Greg – thanks for the nuanced article. It’s definitely an uncomfortable situation, but as an avid hunter, I think the overall good outweighs the bad. Fact is, here in America, whitetail deer and turkeys (to name just two of several animals) have been brought back from dangerously low levels in the mid-1900s to in many cases having an overabundance of them, and this was all done in conjunction with hunting seasons.

Unfortunately, there are the ‘shoot anything that moves’ idiot hunters in the woods. But by and large, I think most of us do consider ourselves conservationists. Our license fees and gear taxes are the largest public funding sources for conservation in the US, and tens of thousands of us are engaged with groups like Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, National Wild Turkey Federation, etc that work tirelessly on habitat conservation and restoration.

It’s easy for us to fall into the steretypes of John Muir reading, Subaru driving, North Face wearing treehuggers vs Ted Nugent listening, Ford driving, camo wearing rednecks, but I really think this is a false dichotomy, and the groups have more in common than they may realize. To me, breaking down this wall is one of the most important things that can be done in the name of environmentalism and conservationism.

By: ppnl

ppnl — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 05:15:25 +0000

So if it had to be put down anyway maybe those who object to making a public spectacle of it should have been given the opportunity to raise the money to outbid the hunters and put it down privately. $350,000 isn’t a huge amount of money. The fund raising effort would have generated useful discussion on why the animal had to die.