Auction to Kill

(Photo taken from USAToday.com Karl Stromayer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife service via AP)

A Texas man won an auction to hunt and kill a black rhino in Namibia. Corey Knowlton, a professional hunter from Dallas, successfully killed and imported a black rhino, and had to dish out $350, 000 to do so. In an ironic twist, Knowlton has received death threats from those supporting the life of the Rhino, so it is Knowlton who may now be hunted. The rhino has more value placed on it than human life, apparently. Knowlton says that the money paid will go to fund that aid in conservation of the animal. Knowlton justifies his killing due to the fact that the rhino was no longer contributing to increasing the population of rhinos, and may have endangered younger male rhinos. Comparatively, female babies in old Eskimo culture were killed out of necessity because there may have otherwise been a shortage of food (Rosenstand, 2013). Both examples rationalize one of the universal values: A policy of caring for enough infants to ensure the continuation of a group. So is Knowlton a murderer? Is he ethically wrong for paying to kill a rhino? In the usual public fashion, People are overreacting. Knowlton has actual logic in his decision to kill the animal, and it actually makes sense. I'm not surprised, logic isn't really a consideration, emotion rules in most cases. 



http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/05/20/dallas-safari-club-texan-kills-black-rhino/27639801/