Trophy hunter who paid $400K to kill rhino allowed to import remains by Trump admin

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration says it will issue a permit to a Michigan trophy hunter to import the skin, skull and horns from a rare black rhinoceros he shot in Africa.

Documents show Chris D. Peyerk of Shelby Township, Michigan, applied last year for the permit required by the Fish and Wildlife Service to import animals protected under the Endangered Species Act. Peyerk paid $400,000 to an anti-poaching program to receive permission to hunt the male rhino bull inside a Namibian national park in May 2018.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists black rhinos as a critically endangered species, with about 5,500 remaining in the wild. Nearly half of those are in Namibia, which is allowed under international convention to permit five male rhinos a year to be legally killed by hunters.

The specific subspecies Peyrek listed on his application, the south-western black rhinoceros, is listed as "vulnerable" by the IUCN, meaning it is at less threat of extinction than the rest of the species as a whole.

Peyerk did not respond to a phone message on Thursday seeking comment. He is president of Dan's Excavating Inc., a large construction contractor in Michigan.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trophy-hunter-who-paid-400g-rhino-kill-allowed-import-remains-n1050836