Marie Saavedra, WFAA-TV, Dallas-Fort Worth
A man who paid $350,000 for the right to hunt an endangered African black rhino says he fears for his safety
DALLAS — A U.S. man who paid $350,000 for the right to hunt an endangered African black rhino says he fears for his safety.
Corey Knowlton said that after being revealed as the winner of a controversial Dallas Safari Club auction, he’s received death threats — so many that he says local law enforcement and the FBI are now working to keep them safe.
STORY: Black rhino hunting permit auctioned for $350,000
Knowlton, who has hunted around the world, said there has been a lot of anger and some confusion.
He leads expeditions for both everyday Joes and billionaires looking to hunt, and has been a fixture on The Outdoor Channel. His Facebook page is filled with photos of large deer he’s tracked and killed — wild boar, a bear, even a massive shark.
The Safari Club auctioned the permit to raise money for efforts to protect the black rhino.
Knowlton said his goal was to support conservation efforts for the black rhino. That’s where the money from his bid will go.
But critics feel that the chance to kill one is no kind of reward — and they’re letting him know it.
Still, Knowlton said the hunt is well-managed, and insists he will be targeting an aggressive older male that he says is terrorizing the rest of the herd, and would already be a target.
He said this is a challenge he welcomes.
“I’m a hunter. I want to experience a black rhino. I want to be intimately involved with a black rhino,” Knowlton said. “If I go over there and shoot it or not shoot it, it’s beyond the point.”
He said the death of this black rhino is inevitable.
“They are going to shoot those black rhinos … period. End of story,” he said.
Contributing: The Associated Press
Exposing the Big Game 
He fears for his life, yeah? He has no idea what fear is, until he’s been hunted and destroyed as a black rhino! Does he actually believe his fear is any more real than that of an animal at the barrel, of his gun?
Good point!
If he was in fear for his life he wouldn’t be on the national circuit of every major news organization looking for more publicity. He is looking for attention and he is pushing the trophy hunting bs to the public. Wildlife advocates need to be as loud as he is with the real facts, hunting is not conservation.
He wants to “experience” and be “intimately involved” with a rhino? There’s long been discussion of men’s desire to kill animals with large displays of masculinity (horns, antlers, etc) as a form of phallic worship. This guy obviously has issues.
Let me see, am I sorry? NO! He has not only terrified animals in his career. After scaring and confusing them, he killed them. He will escape the kind of damage he caused. Typical that all he can do is feel sorry for himself.
Typical of a psychopath.
He’s scared? Good, he can stay home and watch TV. Hunters are cowards, now this scumbag knows how animals feel.
Perhaps this killer’s address should be published–now, that might just give him much-needed nightmares!
Too damn bad. The Black Rhino fears for his safety. This species is on the verge of extinction and this stupid bloodthisty buffoon with a gun says ” I want to experience a black rhino. I want to be intimately involved with a black rhino”. Then marry one you idiot and leave your sheep alone.
And yet he has no fear of getting gored or crushed by the rhino he plans on killing.
$350 000 to kill another creature? He obviously doesn’t know the value of a life.
And the rhino? Does it not fear for its safety? The match isn’t even equal.