Dallas Safari Club Comes up With a Controversial Conservation Plan for Black Rhinos

The Dallas Safari Club (DSC) is auctioning a black rhino hunting permit for raising $1 million for conserving the remaining black rhino species. But this controversial rhino conservation plan has  angered various animal conservation organizations, but scientists are supporting the cause.  

This auction would financially aid DSC in helping the Republic of Namibia, in South-West Africa, in its black rhino conservation program. The rhinos are being hunted and poached on a regular basis in Africa, which has resulted in a sharp decline of about 96 percent in the population of black rhinos in the last one century, leaving around 5,055 black rhinos worldwide, according to scientists as reported by National Geographic.

"First and foremost, this is about saving the black rhino," Ben Carter, DSC executive director stated in a press release. "There is a biological reason for this hunt, and it's based on a fundamental premise of modern wildlife management: populations matter; individuals don't. By removing counterproductive individuals from a herd, rhino populations can actually grow."

Though this conservation plan is being criticized by many, it is being supported by scientists as it will help in boosting the population of this endangered species. The reason behind their support is that  limited hunting would help the rest of the population in growing and surviving better.

"Science shows that eliminating certain individual rhinos will increase herd survival and help populations grow. This hunt is a way to accomplish that goal while generating major funding for other crucial elements of rhino conservation," said Carter.

The population of rhinos was around 70,000 in Africa in the late 1960s, according to WWF.

The rhinos started vanishing from Central African Republic, Botswana, Angola, Chad, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, Sudan, and Zambia and the population further depleted to around 10,000 to 15,000 in 1981 and the conditions worsened in 1993 when only 2,475 black rhinos were remaining.

But a slight increase in the populations was observed because of the conservation efforts. The population has increased to 5,055.