(FOX NEWS) A Dallas hunting club whose auction of a permit to kill an endangered black rhino in Africa drew widespread protests said Sunday it would cancel the hunt if a federal agency did not permit the winning bidder to bring the animal back to the U.S. as a trophy.
The Dallas Safari Club auctioned off the permit for $350,000 at a closed-door auction in January. Last spring, auction winner Corey Knowlton applied for a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that would enable him to import the rhino’s body following the hunt in Namibia. But he’s still waiting to hear back.
The agency is applying extra scrutiny to Knowlton’s request because of the rise in poaching, spokesman Gavin Shire told the Associated Press.
