'You kill rhino, we kill your family'

Organisers of a US auction for a black rhino hunt have been inundated with death threats.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the threats as anti-hunting organisations mobilise against the auction.

But the Dallas Safari Club, which hosts the biggest hunters' convention on the planet, is adamant that it will press ahead with the auction.

The club is planning to auction on Saturday a hunting safari in which the target will be a Namibian black rhino bull.

The club said it expected the hunting permit to sell for between $250000 and $1-million (R10.8-million), which it plans to donate to strengthen conservation efforts in Namibia.

Adri Kitshoff, CEO of the SA Professional Hunters' Association - who is attending the convention - said the hunt was sanctioned by the Namibian government and wildlife agencies, the International Union for the Conservation of Species and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

According to the Dallas Safari Club, its staff members have received a "torrent" of death threats from "animal rights extremists, anti-hunters and radical environmentalists".

The club detailed some of the threats.

One anonymous note read: "You subhuman rednecks have something to worry about now.

"For every rhino you shoot, we'll kill 10 of your members, or their families if we can't get at them.

"We have your membership list. It's open season on you murderers now. There's no place to hide."

Another wrote: "If this happens, [the club executive director] Ben [Carter's] kids are dead."

A further note stated: "The winner of this hunt will find himself in the crosshairs."

Carter said all proceeds of the auction will go to Namibia for underfunded rhino-related projects, such as anti-poaching patrols.

The black rhino is listed as critically endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species. It states that there are less than 5000 of the animals in the world, of which 1915 are in South Africa and 1750 in Namibia.

Carter said the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species allowed Namibia to make up to five black rhinos available for hunting.

"The greatest financial contribution to rhino conservation comes from sustainable hunting," the hunters' association's Kitshoff said.