Photo taken on Aug. 15, 2014 shows a black rhino strolling in Erindi Private Game Reserve, central Namibia. As the biggest private game reserve in Namibia, Erindi covers an area of over 70,000 hectares and accommodates about 10,000 mammals as well as over 300 bird species. (Xinhua/Gao Lei)
NAIROBI, May 22 (Xinhua) -- International and African conservation organizations on Friday condemned the killing of a black rhino by a rich U.S. man in Namibia, saying it does no good to the protection of endangered animals.
Corey Knowlton raised the anger of conservationists by killing a black rhino after buying a Namibian license to hunt for an aging black rhino bull.
Namibia's move to allow commercial hunting of its black rhino population has also ignited a fierce debate on the future of ongoing efforts to conserve the rhinos around the world, as some Namibian conservationists said the move was necessary to eliminate aging black rhinos that cause disturbance to younger bulls and stop reproduction.
"The purpose of trophy hunting is to hunt to kill animals. The argument that it is an important part of conservation is without merit," Azzedine Downes, President and CEO of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) President and CEO told Xinhua.
"Ultimately, the goal is to ensure that there are no animals to hunt. I do not think that Namibia's trophy hunting is conservation, " Downes said.
Downes said challenges in conservation of the black rhinos around Africa, include the lack of proper information sharing systems amongst the local communities, government agencies and conservation organizations, which is necessary to curb poaching.
"Every individual rhino counts in Namibia," said Kathleen Garrigan, spokesperson of the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF).
"It is the responsibility of all rhino range states to limit any activity that result in any unnecessary mortality," she told Xinhua.
The rhino remains one of the world's most endangered species on the "red list" of the global protection bodies.
"There are fewer than 5,000 black rhinos remaining in Africa and the species has been listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as critically endangered since 1996," Garrigan said.
More than 90 percent of the black rhino population currently resides in four countries around the world - Kenya, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
