A Texas man who won a $350,000 bid for the opportunity to hunt an endangered African rhino has received multiple death threats from animal rights groups.
International hunting enthusiast Corey Knowlton lodged the winning bid at the Dallas Safari Club's yearly meeting for rhino conservation awareness last week, according to KTVT-TV. In exchange for the cash, Knowlton gained a permit that would allow him to go on a hunt of the black rhino. The permit was granted by the African country of Namibia, according to KTVT.
Corey said that he first put up the bid for anti-poaching efforts and rhino conservation, but animal rights activists didn't buy it.
"They're wanting to kill me. They're wanting to kill my children," Knowlton told Channel 11. "They're wanting to skin us alive...they're wanting to burn my house down."
Knowlton is unsure whether he'll use the permit, but posted on his Facebook page that he's mulling all aspects of the argument.
"Please don't rush to judgment with emotionally driven criticism towards individuals on either sides of the issue," he wrote. "I deeply care about all of the inhabitants of this planet and I am looking forward to more educated discussion regarding the ongoing conservation effort for the Black Rhino."
