The Dallas Safari Club auctioned off a chance to kill a real-life black rhinoceros in Namibia, South Africa. The winning bid reached up to US$350,000 and it was literally a license to kill.
Back in 2014, Corey Knowlton from Dallas, Texas, won the bidding and got the permit from Namibia's Ministry of Environment and Tourism to hunt and kill a black rhino.
The hunt began on May 18. After three days of hunting, Knowlton finally saw the endangered animal and successfully shot it with a high-powered rifle.
He took a CNN camera crew on his hunt to try to show why he believed the killing would be justified. He also believed that his actions would help protect the critically endangered species.
"At this point, the whole world knows about this hunt and I think it's extremely important that people know it's going down the right way, in the most scientific way that it can possibly happen," Knowlton said as he quietly arrived in Africa to finish his purpose.
"I think people have a problem just with the fact that I like to hunt... I want to see the black rhino as abundant as it can be. I believe in the survival of the species," he added.
The 36-year-old hunter's payment will go straight to Namibia's government to fund anti-poaching efforts across the country. He believed that killing an adult rhino can help the younger ones live longer, and that an older rhino bull can do more harm than good to his own specie.
The next morning, Knowlton returned to the location, bringing the rhino meat that he took out of the dead animal to deliver to a small village in Namibia.
"It's probably the most awesome part of what it means to be a hunter and a provider," said Knowlton.
There are only around 4,000 to 5,000 black rhinos left in the wild.
