http://www.npr.org/2013/12/29/257881008/to-save-the-black-rhino-hunting-club-bids-on-killing-one

 interesting concept....

Some of the comments on that site are hilarious. 

interesting concept....

It says they normally take out the older bulls that can't breed anyways so either way one way or another some one is gonna shoot and kill a mature black rhino why not make an auction for some rich schmuck to pay almost a million to go do it. All the money is going to go to supporting these animals its win win.

I'd love to see conservation efforts succeed, but I'm not overly optimistic that these efforts can keep up with the poaching. As long as there's a demand for rhino horn there'll be poachers. Similar situation with drugs. As long as there's demand, there will be dealers, cartels, and all the associated violence therefrom.

 

Here's an excerpt from a very recent New York Times article:

 

"After two decades of gains, the world’s population of rhinoceroses is being killed off by poachers at such a high rate that conservationists fear the deaths could soon surpass the number of rhinos that are born each year.

The International Rhino Foundation, a global nonprofit group, said Friday that two rhinos a day are being poached in South Africa alone, and that 688 were believed to have been killed there in 2012 — a record that was surpassed this year by September.

Susie Ellis, the executive director of the foundation, warned that worse days for the rhinos might still lie ahead."

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/23/science/experts-say-poaching-could-soon-lead-to-a-decline-in-the-rhino-population.html?_r=0