A permit to hunt a black rhino in Namibia sold for $350,000 at an auction in Dallas on Saturday with proceeds going to protect the endangered animals despite protests from animal rights groups that saw the sale as immoral conservation.

 

The license allows for the killing of a single, post-breeding bull, with Namibian wildlife officials on hand for the hunt to make sure an appropriate animal is selected.

 

The Dallas Safari Club had been expecting the permit to bring $250,000 to $1 million at an auction held during its annual convention. The hunt will help in managing the population and provide an underfunded Namibian government hard cash in the expensive battle to thwart poachers, it said.

 

More than 75,000 people signed an online petition at www.causes.com to stop the sale, saying black rhinos cannot be protected if they are allowed to be killed.

 

There are about 25,000 rhinos in Africa - 20,000 white rhinos and 5,000 black rhinos - with the majority in South Africa. Namibia is one of the leading habitats after that.

 

Both countries allow for a few, carefully regulated hunts under internationally approved guidelines each year with proceeds going to fund conservation.

 

Rhino protection has grown more expensive in the last few years due to a surge in poaching fueled by international crime syndicates to feed demand in places such as Vietnam, where horn is used as a traditional medicine and sold at prices higher than gold.

 

Nearly 950 rhino were killed by poachers in South Africa in 2013, its environment ministry said.

 

In Namibia, little poaching has occurred over the past decade, with only 10 animals killed since 2006 - half of which were last year, TRAFFIC said.