First Black Rhino Is Killed

(From The Hunting Report-email extra)

(posted August 01, 2005)

The first of five black rhino authorized by CITES to be sport taken in South Africa has been shot on a private game ranch in Mpumalanga Province by an American hunter. The client has asked that his name be withheld. The professional hunter was Peter Thormahlen of Thormahlen & Cochran Safaris (peter@africatrophyhunting.com). You can see a photo of the rhino by clicking on the hyperlink below.

Reached by phone this morning, Thormahlen said the rhino measures as follows: front horn - just over 20 inches in length, with a base of 24 inches; back horn – eight inches in length with a 22-inch base. If those approximate figures turn out to be accurate, the rhino would rank about 14 in the Safari Club International Record book.

The all-in cost of the rhino hunt, Thormahlen says, was $150,000. He says another rhino of the same approximate size is available on the same property for $125,000. The property where the rhino was taken is said to measure about 500 hectares (just over 1,200 acres).

Word of the Thormahlen rhino being taken for $150,000 has apparently created a scramble among safari operators and agents who have been circulating hunt offers for as much as $195,000. Two agents we spoke with were at first incredulous at the low prices, especially the offering price ($125,000) of the second rhino.

The relatively low level black rhino hunt prices have reached is due in large part to uncertainty over US import of black rhino trophies. The South African hunting community already knows that revenue from the hunt of this first black rhino, and the four subsequent ones, must demonstrably contribute to rhino conservation before the US Fish & Wildlife Service will allow imports. Conservation Force’s John J. Jackson, III, has offered his assistance to any American client who hunts a black rhino and wants to clear it for import into the US. Jackson can be reached at: 504-837-1233.

Concern about the importability of this trophy should not be allowed to overshadow the importance of what has happened. Our congratulations to the client, to Peter Thormahlen and to the South African hunting community at large for bringing this game animal back in sufficient numbers that hunting can resume. – Don Causey, President/Publisher.

500 hectares, why not just send them the money, have them shoot it and then ship your trophy to you? No sense in flying in all that way for a 10 minute hunt!!!!

Regards,

Terry

quote:

... The property where the rhino was taken is said to measure about 500 hectares (just over 1,200 acres).

Uh ohhhh..... Doesn't seem like much of a hunt. Canned rhino anyone?

-Bob F.

I wonder if it was "Brutus" or Horny" that was shot?

Jokes aside, i agree it can't have been much of a hunt but it earned $150K for "conservation" of the species if procedures are followed and promises are kept It can't be all bad and thankfully there is someone prepared to pay that amount to "put down" a "pet" black rhino. I wouldn't call it a hunt though....

What i ALWAYS say:
RSA is not the END of the Game its more the end of the Hunt !!!

r.
seloushunter

What a pity.
Do you imagine the spoor such a big animal left in 500 hectareas after some days?? If you don't see it from the gate it will take you not more than 20 minutes walking around the property to find him.

I don't understand why at least they don't released the rhino in a bigger property one month before the hunt.

I only hope the shooting of such an animal for 150 K help the specie to be breed by other farmers.

L

I wonder how thick the bush was in the enclosure? Could make a large difference.

Also are Black Rhino as predictable as White Rhino or are they different and more variable in behaviour? A question for one of our Black Rhino hunting experts.

I understand the dismay at the "canned" hunt, but how long do you think Horny would have lasted had they turned him loose in free-range? The poachers would have him in 15 min., and his horn would be ground up and on some Asian's "viagra mix" within a couple of days.

I don't find any redeeming value in what occurred. I wouldn't want my name attached to it either if I was him.

I am normally opposed to "fenced" hunting; however, for what is essentially a "donation" toward the conservation of a rare species and if the hunt was on foot, then I really don't have that much of problem with it. In these days, wildlife simply must have a value to hunters, not just to tourists, to be able to survive. Otherwise they are just bushmeat and knife handles.

I'm afraid that, given the rarity and value of these animals, and the consequent need to keep them locked up behind high fences and under close watch, this kind of thing is all that can be expected.

I suppose it's not unlike other small-patch-behind-a-high-fence-hunting here and abroad, but that's no virtue, IMO.

No skill is involved other than rudimentary marksmanship and nothing is accomplished other than mere killing.

Not much different than a lot of the wildboar hunts here in the states. Except for he had to fly halfway around the world and pay 150,000 dollars to do it.

As everyone has stated I agree that there is no real Hunting value in killing Bob the Rhino for muost of us.

However I am gratefull that there are 5 "hunters" out there that will contribute close to USD$1,000,000 between them most of which should go towards the conservation of an animal that needs all the help it can get.

Not my bag but I think what we all have in common is an ultimate love for the wildlife we choose to hunt (or not as the case may be), so if it helps the rhino we should applaud the outcome if not the methods emplpoyed.

FB

I have no desire to take ANY Rhino, even if in 500,000 sq miles of unfenced bush! However, all this talk about this being a 20 minute SHOOT because the enclosier is only 1200 acres, is just plain dumb! In 1200 acres of tight thorn a smart Rhino could keep you tracking for days! Admittedly Rhino are not the sharpest tool in the shed,and one that is used to human encounters, might not be prone to try to avoid you for long. BUT, 20 minutes? Come on guys, if there wasn't a tree on that 1200 acres, it would take you a lot longer to walk all of it than any twenty minutes! There is a 40 acre patch on our old family ranch in the north end of the Texas Hill country, that is so thick, an elephant could avoid you for a week, and there was an old Whitetail in there that we hunted for five yrs, and then found him dead one summer! He never came out of that thicket till late night to feed in the Maise, and mellon garden.

I don't want this Rhino, but if the money is going the protect the rest of the population of Black Rhino, then I have no problem with the man who can afford it, takeing this old Rhino, in a 1200 acre enclosier! It cost lots of money to guard a few animals 24/7 in a 1200 acre enclosier! If they weren't in that enclosier, I doubt there would be any black Rhino at all! $275,000 US for the two, will go a long way to protecting the rest! We have some Black Rhino at Fossel Rim, here in Texas, and they can't even be viewed, much less hunted!

Mac, spot on boet! I always enjoy your insight and this is no exception! It's what we call in wildlife management a Harvestable resource. The funds from this will certainly be used to protect and increase the success of the black rhinos future.

I hear this class envy thing frequently. So much negative is said about the elite wealthy hunters at SCI regarding their "buying" of trophy hunts and the black tie events with gold and platinum awards for various levels of achievement.

Folks need to step back and realize that these elite make it possible for most of us poor folks to continue to hunt when we can scrape up enough money to do it and beg the time away from our daily grind to leave for a few weeks or months.

I have seen donations by one man, in one local SCI convention towards a game managment program for re-introduction of wild sheep in Oregon then I will ever donate in my whole life. The elite are not the enemy folks, they are the solution! Never rag on a guy who spends 150K for a Rhino hunt. Imagine what he has spent to help your cause through auctions and donations.

How many of you have dropped 10K towards a wildlife progam after a convention dinner? How many have bought an auctioned sculpture or paining for 25K to help SCI protect our hunting rights? I know I have not, nor have many folks I know. I have had hunters in my lodge who have done this. They have paid the 11K each for first class Airfare to RSA as well. I never treat them different then a regular "avearge Joe" hunter.

If it's not your bag to shoot a rhino on 1200 acres then don't do it. But be very grateful that someone will and that they are the ones funding the recovery of the species. I know I like seeing both black and white Rhino at our consessions. If it were not for the people paying for these projects what would the future be for them? Zoo's?

Is money better spent supporting a charitable organization that supports/promotes the black rhino or better spent paying for a hunt (where a large portion of that goes into the outfitter's pocket)? How involved is the outfitter in the actual preservation of the species? How much of the $150,000 goes directly to the preservation of the black the rhino?

I am not trying to be adversarial, just trying to open up the discussion. Hunting has it's place in preserving wildlife but specialty species like the black rhino really present a unique set of facts and circumstances.

Regards,

Terry

I have no problem at all with a guy (or gal, for that matter) paying as much as he wants to for a rhino. I also have no problem at all with him hunting it on a 1200 acre spread. That is two square miles, minus pocket change. I can't afford it, but that doesn't make me mad enough to trash another guy's life's dream. If I go to RSA for rhino, it will be of the darted variety, and a white one to boot. Yes, it is in my mind as something I would love to do, especially if combined with veterinary care for the animal I dart. But then, I am not a purist. I love hunting in all its forms. If something is not "wild" enough for me, I don't do it. I refuse to get into 'holier than thou' hissy fits over what some wealthy person wants to spend his money on. Please consider that, without that rhino being worth such a princely sum to some wealthy guy, there would be precious few of the dumb beasties left. They have little value to the natives, other than what they can bring in as income from some guy who wants a rhino on his wall.

I don't have the details on this hunt, but usually on these hunts in RSA the outfitter/PH gets the daily rate and the owner of the animal gets the trophy fee.

Here I would estimate the daily rate might be $500 for a dangerous game hunt, or $3,500 for a week. That leaves $146,500 for the owner of the animal and the conservation program.

Black rhino are a lot more aggressive than the whites, although I recall one white bull in the Save' Conservancy in Zim that was quite stroppy.

As more of these animals become available prices will decline, but when you start at $300,000 (the first hunt I heard of a few years back) it still will be expensive.

jim

White rhino are no bargan in the safety issue. I have had my vehicle charged twice by White Rhino, one bull and one cow.

The fisrt time was while out photographing game with clients. We were about 75 yards from the cow and a calf. A bull also showed up and was sniffing and chasing her just a bit. She would spin around and blow loudly at him. He never gave up being the good ole boy and kept trying to convince her it was party time. She was losing her patience with him and finally really head butted him loud enough to hear the horns bang together. He backed off and she trotted towards us with her calf in tow. Then out of nowhere she dropped her head and aimed right for the truck at about 40-50 yards out. I hit the fuel and we were able with enough notice to pull out of range.

I was stunned as I had been very close to Rhinos many times and never saw that kind of reaction before. That big bull must have really been wearing on her nerves?

Next incident was while driving down a road near dark to the lodge. I heard a massive crashing in the bush and slowed to see what was going on. In my mind I knew it had to be a rhino but wanted my two hunters and the one guys wife to see the rhino. AS I slowed I saw him angling towards the road infront of me.

This particular road splits one goes north the other south but they run parallel to one another for about 100 yards with some trees and brush between them. While I was on the road that eventually turns south the rhino Bull hits the other road running at the same speed right next to the truck As I pull away slightly the bull cuts through the bushy section and is now on the same road but 40-50 yards behind me and then he stops.

I stop so they can get pictures, when I hear one of the guys yell out he's coming for us. I turn my head trying not to laugh and in the mirror I see a bull getting bigger. I let off the clutch and try to accelerate away but was still in 3rd gear. I never went back down to first as we had actually just stopped. The engine is chugging and the truck bucking and as I try to untangle my feet and legs to press the clutch back down that bull is about 20 yards from the truck and closing fast. I maange to get that truck moving when the rhino was byu my passangers estimate one second from impact. The Poor lady slid right off the seat and hit the floor. I still remember her telling her husband that she was going to be badly bruised from that rhino but would not be able to show anyone the proof of the charge!

There was one other incident I recall but did not witness. In kruger park there is a warning that automatic fan switches for the radiator would trigger a Rhino charge. So if you have a car that has one of these switches you should not stop to photograph white Rhino. JUst drive past to a safe distance and photograph them, or shut your engine off(yeah right, not this guy)

They had several white rhino smash the crap out of many cars and all the drivers questioned said about the same thing. When the cooling fan clicked on the rhino charged smashing the grill and or front fenders. I saw a photo of a mercedes benz with a badly smashed front end in the Punda Maria camp store. It was done by one of these Rhino.

Don't underestimate anything that weights 6000 pounds with a horn and can become angry!

Envy ?? sure not
As I said in my previous post, obviously these things help to other farmers get interested in breeding black rhino.

I don't know how thick the thornbush was where the hunt took place so maybe wasn't a 20 minutes walk, but please don't tell me it is difficult to find him, don't tell me that the hunter wasn't guided by someone who knows the property and don't tell me that this person don't know exactly the place that the rhino frequent at different hours.

But it's just my opinion and I respet VERY MUCH others opinion as I never been and never will be the owner of the truth.

Sorry if I sound rude. It wasn't my intention. But I own a bigger farm than that and animals are quite territorials and usually we know where to look, and we are talking about deers not about rhinos.

But I think all these is irrelevant and we are mising the real thing of this new, the fact that a cites black rhino hunt was given, that the price was lower than expected and that this is maybe the start of a succesful breeding plan of an endarenged great animal with the support of the hunting comunity.

L

Though a stretch, I would compare it to my duck blind. I pay a fair bit of cash to shoot ducks, the ducks get a lot of habitat preserved for them.
My money could be better spent on duck conservation if I were to donate it directly to Ducks Unlimited, but I'm not gonna do that! I want to shoot them!

PK.

I'm just going to have them Live-ship him over here to Texas and save everybody a ton of embarrassment!

Canned Rhino anybody?!

500 Hectares....what a joke!


Jeff

I think what the SCI "elite" forget about, or are too "elite" to care about is that the hunting industry in RSA apparently have them under a microscope. When some SCI stud flies in to a luxury base and waits to board a chopper until a call comes in that the rhino has been cornered, then flies out, walks over and shoots him, poses for photos, jumps back in the chopper and flies out, the hunting world learns about it. It may just be one bad apple, but it sure paints them all. That story and one about the SCI stud that needed a Caracal, put the word out, had one trapped and shot him through the cage wire was making the rounds pretty hard a few years ago.

Do I know the stories were true? Nope. Do I know they were false? Nope. Do I know all the money for Robbie the Rhino is going to conservation? Nope. My main disappointment is that we know the PH, we know the outfitter, but the hunter didn't have the balls to step up and say, "It was me". He must have been a little embarrassed to donate $150,000 for conservation.

Although hunting a rhino under these conditions in such a restricted area is not my cup of tea, what we can do is celebrate that the conservation tecniques designed to save and increase this valuable species has worked. It has been only a matter of a few years since the predictions that black rhino would be extinct in a few years were the common opinion. "Conservation WORKS"!

465H&H

Amén

In RSA right now the parks will give a landowner a Black Rhino Free to keep on their property. The Property must meet the minimum requirements of fencing and habitat.

The Landowners are not actually the owners of these Black Rhino, but only a caretaker for them. In return they get to have them available for the visiting clients to see and experience.

It's Nature conservationand the parks that are the actual owner/delegator of the animal. Certainly there is money involved for the PH and the Lodge owner? outfitter. However the Black Rhino resident on these particular properties are owned by the park and controlled by Nature Conservation.

There are Black Rhino Privately owned which may also be available to hunt with Nature Conservation permits.

However the ones being hunted as far as I was told directly by the Nature Conservation people, whom I visit with. Was that they would offer a few permits for these Rhino to replace them with new bulls for genetic improvement on the lands they are kept on.

So it's very likely that the Parks and Nature Conservation are the big money winner on this not a private owner. I don't know the origin of the Rhino in question though. Nor do I know the breakdown of funds. I would guess having been involved with all these groups on other projects that the Daily fee minumum was based on ten days at 500 a day, 5000 bucks. Then the landowner probably recieved about 10-20K for his part of the sale. Thatsa hella big trophy fee for an animal that cost you nothing but secure fencing. So with a 150K total Nature Conservation likely ended up with well over 100K on this for their effort. I suspect this was a Park Bull because of the size of the property. The requirements to get these Rhino are strict and require an expensive fence setup. with a minimum size. This sounds like the case to me. The Black Rhino I know of in RSA privately owned are all on enormous properties, many times bigger then the one where this Rhino was killed

If it was a privately owned Rhino then that is a whole different balance or distribution of funds.

quote:

Do I know the (anti-SCI) stories were true? Nope. Do I know they were false? Nope. Do I know all the money for Robbie the Rhino is going to conservation? Nope. My main disappointment is that we know the PH, we know the outfitter, but the hunter didn't have the balls to step up and say, "It was me". He must have been a little embarrassed to donate $150,000 for conservation.

If you don't know anything about this rhino hunt, why bother to post Internet rumors about other and probably mythical hunts?

I do know that if game pays its way, it will continue. I don't have the $150K to get into this game. If I did I would ante up.

jim
SCI member

Guests

Now would I hunt the beast NO, but whom am I to castigate the guy whom hunted and those whom provided the opportunity, that is their perogitive and we all scream for democracy and freedoms, well unfortunately whether we like it or not that is how it works in this free capitilist world we all want, with a willing buyer willing seller.

I am interested to see the STORY about it in SCI publication hopefully soon, and then we will all know a bit more ..

You know (jealosy causes rude remarks) that is part of human nature and of cource SOME of us ( me included) are pissed off that we dont have a spare 150K to blow on a hunt regardless of where the money goes ...

Regards, Peter

quote:

You know (jealosy causes rude remarks) that is part of human nature and of cource SOME of us ( me included) are pissed off that we dont have a spare 150K to blow on a hunt regardless of where the money goes ...

Right on target, Peter.

I think I know who the client was. If it is you, won't see any story in SCI.

465H&H

quote:

Originally posted by Kensco:
I think what the SCI "elite" forget about, or are too "elite" to care about is that the hunting industry in RSA apparently have them under a microscope. When some SCI stud flies in to a luxury base and waits to board a chopper until a call comes in that the rhino has been cornered, then flies out, walks over and shoots him, poses for photos, jumps back in the chopper and flies out, .

Damn, Kensco, your post above sounds like it came right out of the PeTA head operations manual! Talk about assumptions! SHEEEEEEEEEeeeeez