U.S. Will Allow Michigan Trophy Hunter To Import Skin, Skull, Horns Of Rare Black Rhino

(CBS DETROIT/AP) - A 53-year-old Shelby Township man who paid $400,000 to hunt and kill a rare black rhinoceros in Africa has received permission import the animal to the United States.

The Trump administration issued the permit to Chris D. Peyerk, a Michigan trophy hunter and president of Dan's Excavating Inc., to import the skin, skull and horns.

Peyerk applied for the permit last year for permission to hunt the male rhino bull inside a Namibian national park in May 2018.

According to the Associated Press, the $400,000 paid by Peyrek went to a trust fund set up by the Namibian government for wildlife management, conservation, rural development and other activities aimed at promoting the coexistence of humans and wildlife.

Black Rhinos are listed as a critically endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. There are 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.

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