grey area? poaching indivduals to save populations...

I can appreciate some arguments:
"rhino conservationists could not rely on the animals acting as a draw for tourists on wildlife-watching safaris in Africa as the industry was financially “not very high yielding”."..."The realities of 21st-century conservation means compromises and difficult decisions need to be made.”...“It will be cash that saves the rhinos, not tears,”

but the whole thing does seem a bit shady and I doubt the following:
“The [African] governments have retention schemes and they track the money. They distribute and allocate it to how they see fit into rhino conservation and sustainable development. Most of, if not all, the money is returned to rhino conservation.”..."In Namibia, where all black rhinos are owned by the state, money from the hunts is also said to be distributed to the local population, giving them an incentive to keep the rhino populations viable."

It is good food for thought in any case, perhaps sad just to acknowledge that we are really coming to the end of the line when people, who I am sure care very deeply about wildlife, feel these are the measure they must resort to (click here to go to a disturbing gallery of big white hunters and their "trophies". Actually, on that note I will refer you back to today's earlier post on empathy)- MA

From Africa Geographic via the Africa Geographic facebook page
A pregnant rhino mother and calf have been killed by poachers on a South African farm in the same week as British charity Save the Rhino has endorsed the shooting of rhinos

Daniel Foggo, reporting for The Sunday Times:

Save the Rhino, the British charity set up to protect one of the world’s most endangered animals, is endorsing the shooting of them for fun and is directly profiting from “trophy hunts” of other species. The London-based charity has decided to endorse the controversial practice of rich hunters shooting rhinoceroses after being approached by a hunting lobby group offering money. Safari Club International (SCI) has so far donated about £32,000 to the charity, much of it raised by auctioning the trophy hunts to shooting enthusiasts.

The charity said it adopted its stance, which is at odds with many other wildlife organisations, after deciding to be “not sentiment-driven” about conservation and encourage the “sustainable use” of animals. “We don’t want to see animals being killed but it’s the situation we are in,” said Lucy Boddam-Whetham, the charity’s fundraising manager, who admitted the issue was “extremely emotive”. “It’s looking at all the different ways we can make sure we get money for conservation coming in.” She said the charity had formed its view on trophy hunting after being approached by SCI with offers of money in 2006. Since then SCI has donated sums of between £6,000 and £10,000 a year.

“Our position came out of whether we would accept funds from SCI,” Boddam-Whetham said. “Having discussed the pros and cons we felt overwhelmingly in favour of the SCI partnership. The realities of 21st-century conservation means compromises and difficult decisions need to be made.” She said rhino conservationists could not rely on the animals acting as a draw for tourists on wildlife-watching safaris in Africa as the industry was financially “not very high yielding”.

Matthew Eckert, manager of conservation for SCI, said his hunting organisation was only too pleased to find a willing recipient of its money in Save the Rhino. It had been snubbed by some other charities. He said: “We are struggling with gaining credibility. It’s difficult with being a hunting organisation who hunts endangered *or* threatened species when the public doesn’t know that hunting these species can actually benefit them.”

Although there are five rhino species remaining worldwide, only two — the black and white rhinos that both live in Africa — can be legally hunted.

Since 2004, hunters have been able to pay to shoot up to 10 black rhino a year in Namibia and South Africa, at a cost of up to £170,000 each. The animal, which is officially listed as critically endangered, numbers only about 4,200 in the wild. White rhinos, which were once facing extinction as a species, now number about 17,800 and have the status of “near threatened”. They can be hunted in South Africa on private reserves at a cost of about £12,000 each.

Both species are threatened by poachers who kill them for their horns — which can be sold for up to £41,000 a kilo and are used in Chinese medicine and for ornamental purposes. Other threats include the steady erosion of their natural habitats.

Campaigners for trophy hunting say that by allowing hunters to shoot rhinos, the proceeds can be invested into ensuring the future safety of the species by paying for more anti-poaching measures.

Eckert, whose club’s members number 53,000 worldwide and include hunters who have shot rhino, said: “The [African] governments have retention schemes and they track the money. They distribute and allocate it to how they see fit into rhino conservation and sustainable development. Most of, if not all, the money is returned to rhino conservation.”

He said only mature males past their reproductive prime were selected to be hunted and that by removing them, the breeding females were more likely to mate with younger, more virile specimens.

In Namibia, where all black rhinos are owned by the state, money from the hunts is also said to be distributed to the local population, giving them an incentive to keep the rhino populations viable. Concerns have been raised, however, that rhino hunts in South Africa are not as strictly regulated and even that some hunts might be implicated in the illegal trade of rhino horn.

Laura Bailey, the fashion model who was until recently one of Save the Rhino’s patrons, said she was “very surprised” to hear about the charity’s endorsement of hunting the animals it wanted to save. “I will look into it privately, but I’m not going to comment without doing some more research,” she added.

Some other wildlife campaigners oppose Save the Rhino’s policy. Will Travers, chief executive of the Born Free Foundation, an animal welfare charity that opposes trophy hunting, said: “I find the whole concept deeply depressing.” He added: “There seems something deeply unethical about championing rhino conservation and then using the money from rhino killed for ‘fun’ to protect some of those that remain.”

A British shooting magazine, Sporting Rifle, has also announced an auction of trophy hunts of animals such as wild boar, muntjac and red deer with all the proceeds to go to Save the Rhino. Peter Carr, editor of Sporting Rifle, said the magazine was hoping to raise a minimum of £6,000 for Save the Rhino from its auctioning of hunts for which readers will email bids. “It will be cash that saves the rhinos, not tears,” he said.

Since it was founded in 1994, Save the Rhino has attracted numerous high-profile supporters. Its founding patrons included Douglas Adams author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, who helped raise its profile by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in a rhino costume. Runners in similar suits completing marathons for the charity have since become a familiar sight. Save the Rhino’s current patrons include Martina Navratilova, the former tennis champion, who won £86,000 for the charity on the US version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?