US to allow trophy hunter to import body of rare black rhino

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 last year in Africa.

Documents show Chris Peyerk of Shelby Township, Michigan, applied in 2018 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.

There are only about 5,500 black rhinos 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.

Peyerk did not respond to a phone message seeking comment.