Outrage as Republican donor is allowed to bring endangered black rhino horn into U.S. as trophy for slaughtering it on $215,000 organized hunt

Controversy is raging over the American who has been allowed to bring hunting trophy from a black rhino into the U.S. for the first time in over 30 years.

According to Scientific American , the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service granted an import license to David K. Reinke, who runs a printer parts wholesaler and is prolific Republican party donor, on March 28.



This lets Reinke bring home the horn from the endangered rhino he shot in Namibia in 2009. Animal rights activists have argued that this sets a 'dangerous precedent', while opposing groups have claimed that hunting is a positive force for conservation.



Trophy: David K. Reinke poses with the black rhino he shot in 2009. He will now be able to bring the horn back to the U.S.

Reinke is president and CEO of a Wisconsin-based laserjet printer parts company called Liberty Parts Team.



He has donated thousands of dollars to Republican political candidates, including a $44,000 contribution to Mitt Romney's campaign in May 2012.

Reward: Reinke reportedly paid $215,000 for the hunt where he killed the rhino in 2009

Reinke shot the 34-year-old male rhino in Namibia’s Waterberg Plateau Park in 2009, reported Scientific American.

His trip was organized by a company called Thormählen & Cochran Safaris.



According to Businessweek Reinke paid $215,000 for the hunt, which included a donation of $175,000 to the Namibian government’s Game Products Trust Fund, a wildlife conservation body.

Since killing the rhino, Reinke has been supported in his efforts to bring his trophy home by Louisiana-based non-profit, Conservation Force .



They argue on their website that ' hunters and anglers are an indispensable and essential force for wildlife conservation.'

At the end of March the FWS granted Reinke the permit he needs for importing the horn under the Endangered Species Act of 1980.



The statement, reproduced by Scientific American, read: 'The Service granted this permit after an extensive review of Namibia’s black rhino conservation program, in recognition of the role that well-managed, limited sport hunting plays in contributing to the long-term survival and recovery of the black rhino in Namibia.

'The Service cannot and will not allow the importation of sport-hunted trophies of species protected under the Endangered Species Act unless a comprehensive review determines that those trophies are taken as part of a well-managed conservation program that enhances the long-term survival of the species,' the statement continued.

Teresa Telecky, Director of the Wildlife Department at Humane Society International, disagreed, as reported by Takepart.com.

Threatened: The black rhino has been on the endangered species list since 2008

'We're really worried that now the gates have opened up for bringing endangered species trophies into the country,' Telecky said.



'And not just rhinos either. Hunters have been clambering for years and years to be allowed to bring cheetah trophies into the U.S. Now, maybe they'll be able to.



'And in countries where trophy hunting isn't well regulated, what will happen to cheetahs when American hunters show up with hundreds of thousands of dollars and a gun?' she questioned.

On the other hand John Jackson of Conservation Force told The Hunting Report: ' The Service is to be commended for showing good judgment on this issue.

Haul: Former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt shows off a bull rhinoceros he killed on an African savanna in May 1919

'This is an important juncture in rhino conservation, when the continued increase of rhino poaching makes it all the more important to raise the funds necessary and incentivize the local people to conserve these animals.

