So, what is the latest on those black rhino hunts that were authorized by CITES last year? In all, the export of five trophies from South Africa and five from Namibia has been authorized. Almost certainly, offers of various sorts are going to be floating around the floor of the major hunting conventions this month and next. Our advice is to be very careful.
Rights to offer black rhinos hunts have not even been allocated yet in Namibia, and they won't be until June when the above-mentioned delayed hunting-area auction occurs. So, there is nothing one can do right now to assure himself a place in line to hunt the first black rhino in that country. We will, of course, keep you posted on what happens there.
Over in South Africa, the situation is a bit murkier. PHASA (Professional Hunters Association of South Africa) says no one has yet gotten a permit to hunt a black rhino, and they take the position that no one should be marketing black rhino hunts yet. Moreover, they say the process for allocating permits has not even been decided upon yet. Meanwhile, at least one professional hunter, Peter Thormahlen, says he has a hunting agreement with a private landowner, Ian Hume, who has been promised a rhino permit by the Mpumulanga Parks Board. "I have spoken with people in the parks board," Thormahlen's agent, John Barth of Adventure Unlimited, told us near press time. "They confirmed what Peter Thor- mahlen has been telling me all along - namely, that Hume will be given a rhino permit on or after January 15."
We do not pretend to know how this is going to shake out, but there are a couple of things interested hunters need to be aware of. First, US hunters will probably not be able to import a black rhino trophy........(continued)
