U.S. Hunters Push To Import Trophies Of Two Critically Endangered Black Rhinos Killed In Namibia

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) notified the public on Tuesday of two applications from U.S. hunters in Texas and Florida seeking to import black rhino hunting trophies. The rhinos—named Lippie and Willem, aged 28 and 31—were killed in Namibia.

Black rhinos are critically endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with only an estimated 6,400 individuals remaining across all of Africa. While the population is growing, black rhinos are still highly imperiled due to poaching for horns, habitat loss, and hunting, including “pseudo-hunting” to obtain and trade in otherwise illicit horns.

“It’s tragic that trophy hunters pay vast sums for the luxury of killing such highly imperiled animals when the focus should be on recovering the species,” said Tanya Sanerib, international legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This pay-to-play system perpetuates rarity, which suits wealthy hunters looking to bag exotic kills but doesn’t help critically endangered animals like Lippie and Willem.”

Both rhinos were killed in 2022—one on a private game reserve, Erindi, and the other in Mangetti National Park. According to application materials, the hunters paid around a quarter of a million U.S. dollars each in hunting fees.

The U.S. permit applications and supporting materials were disclosed on September 24. This is in accordance with an Endangered Species Act provision that requires public notice and an opportunity to comment on import applications for endangered species such as black rhinos.

Black rhinos were listed as endangered under the Act in 1980 and are subject to a commercial trade ban imposed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). To import a black rhino trophy, permits under both the Act and the CITES treaty are required.

To issue the permits, USFWS must find not only that trophy hunting is not detrimental to the species’ survival but also that it “enhances” or benefits its survival. The public has 30 days to submit evidence that such findings should not be made. The last black rhino hunting trophy import permit was issued in 2019.

The U.S. is one of the largest importers of hunting trophies globally, alongside the EU. Between 2014 and 2018, over 650,000 wildlife trophies were imported into the U.S., accounting for nearly half of all wildlife trophies traded globally during that period. These imports often include species listed under CITES, such as lions, elephants, leopards, and rhinos.

“With the biodiversity crisis unraveling life as we know it, it’s mind-boggling that agencies still spend their limited resources permitting killing rather than focusing on conservation,” said Sanerib. “I wish these applications were for creative ways to counter rhino poaching and other threats, not about whether to allow trade in highly imperiled animal parts taken for thrills.”

“We are capable of much better solutions than hunting tags when it comes to saving endangered species. It is extremely sad and frustrating that funding has to be pulled from the life of such iconic species,” said Mike Veale, CEO and Founder of Global Conservation Force.

It’s heartbreaking that people are still willing to pay thousands of dollars to kill magnificent, endangered species when our focus should be on protecting them. In an era where we face unprecedented biodiversity loss, the idea of spending vast sums to destroy these animals for sport is beyond tragic. Instead of glorifying their deaths, we should be uniting to preserve these irreplaceable creatures for future generations, ensuring they thrive in the wild where they belong.