Jack-Hammer
YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!!!!
I'd forgotten all about this as it was a story that was originally reported several months back, maybe even in late summer to early fall. The reason I suddenly remembered it is because there's a new twist on this story.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/16/us/black-rhino-hunting-permit/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Corey Knowlton is a 35 year old man from Dallas, Texas and is a hunting consultant for an international outdoors & wilderness guiding service called The Hunting Consortium. He also hosts a show on The Outdoor Channel and claims to have hunted over 120 species of animals on nearly every continent.
The controversy started when Knowlton was outed via social media as the winner of an auctioned hunt sponsored by The Dallas Safari Club. Knowlton's bid of $350,000 won him the opportunity to travel to Zambia to hunt the endangered Black Rhino. Since he was outed, Knowlton has been the target of various animal rights groups and has received death threats from various people who've sent him messages via Twitter and Facebook. People have also threatened his children and the threats have him rattled to such a degree that he's hired a private security detail for himself & his family at all times.
Knowlton argues that his money will be used to help protect the Black Rhino as a species. Some groups support Knowlton's belief that such money will be used for the betterment of the species, such as helping measures to increase population. Others say that it's just an example of good old fashioned eco-terrorism and an excuse for an avid, wealthy hunter to have an opportunity to participate in an extremely rare hunt.
The threats of death & physical violence to Knowlton and his family are definitely going too far. Nothing remotely positive can come out of a situation in which overly zealous people, some of whom only say what they say due to the relative anonymity provided by the internet. It only serves to further divide people who're already on opposite sides of the fence in an issue like this.
I do, however, understand and share the skepticism that some people have about this. I'm no expert on conservation, far from it in fact. According to the report on CNN, there are only about 5,000 Black Rhinos in the world with a population of about 1,700 in Zambia, the country that's ultimately being paid for the hunt. Like I said, I'm no expert by any means whatsoever, but I'm just highly suspicious of someone who claims that spending a six figure sum to hunt an animal that's been labeled "Critically Endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature is being done for the benefit of the species. There are currently 9 categories pertaining to the conservation status of animals and "Critically Endangered" indicates a very high risk of the species becoming extinct. The only two levels considered worse are "Extinct in the Wild" and, of course "Extinct" altogether.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/16/us/black-rhino-hunting-permit/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Corey Knowlton is a 35 year old man from Dallas, Texas and is a hunting consultant for an international outdoors & wilderness guiding service called The Hunting Consortium. He also hosts a show on The Outdoor Channel and claims to have hunted over 120 species of animals on nearly every continent.
The controversy started when Knowlton was outed via social media as the winner of an auctioned hunt sponsored by The Dallas Safari Club. Knowlton's bid of $350,000 won him the opportunity to travel to Zambia to hunt the endangered Black Rhino. Since he was outed, Knowlton has been the target of various animal rights groups and has received death threats from various people who've sent him messages via Twitter and Facebook. People have also threatened his children and the threats have him rattled to such a degree that he's hired a private security detail for himself & his family at all times.
Knowlton argues that his money will be used to help protect the Black Rhino as a species. Some groups support Knowlton's belief that such money will be used for the betterment of the species, such as helping measures to increase population. Others say that it's just an example of good old fashioned eco-terrorism and an excuse for an avid, wealthy hunter to have an opportunity to participate in an extremely rare hunt.
The threats of death & physical violence to Knowlton and his family are definitely going too far. Nothing remotely positive can come out of a situation in which overly zealous people, some of whom only say what they say due to the relative anonymity provided by the internet. It only serves to further divide people who're already on opposite sides of the fence in an issue like this.
I do, however, understand and share the skepticism that some people have about this. I'm no expert on conservation, far from it in fact. According to the report on CNN, there are only about 5,000 Black Rhinos in the world with a population of about 1,700 in Zambia, the country that's ultimately being paid for the hunt. Like I said, I'm no expert by any means whatsoever, but I'm just highly suspicious of someone who claims that spending a six figure sum to hunt an animal that's been labeled "Critically Endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature is being done for the benefit of the species. There are currently 9 categories pertaining to the conservation status of animals and "Critically Endangered" indicates a very high risk of the species becoming extinct. The only two levels considered worse are "Extinct in the Wild" and, of course "Extinct" altogether.
