Animal rights groups are up in arms over an idea by the South African government to sell a couple hundred white rhino’s from Kruger National Park.

Up to 350 of the rare animals will be sold this year alone from the Kruger National Park under fundraising plans drawn up by the South African government.

Animal rights groups have criticised the move and warned it would undermine conservation efforts at the reserve, which is visited by 1.5 million tourists every year.

Steve Smit, spokesman for Animal Rights Africa, said: “The idea of herding up animals from a major wildlife reserve and selling them to private institutions is outrageous.

…Bosses started selling white rhino from Kruger in 2002 for around £12,000 (R150,000) each but have since sold an average of just 70 a year.

…Mr Smit added: “We have a huge amount of anecdotal evidence that suggests a large number of the animals that have been previously been sold have been shot by hunters – sometimes almost immediately.”

“Private institutions,” what horror! Mr. Smit’s concern that many of the rhinos will be bought by private hunters may well be true, and I object to any of them that might use drugs or tranquilizers when offering tourist hunters the opportunity to shoot them in controlled game parks.  I do not, however, object to their selling such an opportunity at all.

So long as parks are run by entrepreneurs (Kruger National Park is a concern in this regard, as it is operated by the South African government), then animals that are able to fetch a high price will remain safe from the threat of extinction.  Why would a park owner allow white rhinos (Kruger currently houses 4,500) to run out when there is a significant financial interest in ensuring their continued supply?  Allowing parks to sell large game, even for immediate killing, ensures the continued survival of those species and brings in the funds necessary to run the splendorous parks so loved by “animal rights groups.”

The real danger is that parks run by governments, rather than private groups, may not always be sufficiently motivated by long-term financial concerns to adequately protect such valuable commodities.  Examples of this are not hard to come by in Africa, where Marxist guerrilla governments slaughtered game to the brink of extinction to fund their wars.  But when they were convinced to grant hunting concessions to private owners – for a hefty fee, of course – animals fared much better.  Hunters who had a stake in running a profitable concession had strong incentive not to run out of stock.  They were also animal experts who understood how to keep a herd healthy, and they were vigilant in fighting off illegal poachers.  As far as I’m concerned, the more parks or hunting concessions that can be placed into private hands, the better.