Resident of Michigan, which last year paid $400 million for hunting and killing a rare black rhinoceros in Africa, was allowed to import a skin, skull and horns of the animal in the United States.
Hunter trophies Chris Park submitted an application last year, but the feds have given permission only on Friday, September 6.
Payers had paid a large sum for permission to hunt the Rhino in the largest national Park of Namibia – Etosha in may 2018. Animal is one of the 5,500 representatives of their species left in the wild. Five black rhinos per year can be legally killed by hunters willing to pay for this chance.
«Legal, regulated hunting as part of a program of good governance can contribute to the conservation of certain species, providing local communities incentives for conservation and returning much needed income back,» said Lori Parramore, a representative of the Department of fisheries and hunting.
Federal law previously forbade hunters to bring the bodies of the rhinos in the United States, but the rules have changed with increasing populations of species in recent years.
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However, human rights activists and organizations criticized about permissions.
«We urge our Federal government to put an end to this scheme of payment for the murder,» said kitty Block, head of the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International.
In 2017, the administration trump approved the import of elephant tusks as trophies.
