The Trump administration said this month it plans to issue a permit to an American trophy hunter hoping to bring back the skin and skull of a rhino he paid $400,000 to kill in Namibia last year.

The Humane Society of the United States said last week it had been notified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that it intended to grant the permit to Chris Peyerk , a businessman in Michigan, who shot the 29-year-old male black rhino in May 2018. Peyerk reportedly paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Namibian anti-poaching fund set up by the government in order to get permission to hunt the animal.

Its illegal to import such animals or their parts into the United States under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act. For any permit to be issued, a trophy hunter needs to prove that their actions will enhance the species survival and take into account its biological needs. Trophy hunters have long argued that paying for the privilege to hunt endangered animals which can cost tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars helps ensure their protection . But environmental groups have countered that a dead rhino is a dead rhino, regardless of how much money goes to conservation groups.

We urge our federal government to end this pay-to-slay scheme that delivers critically endangered rhino trophies to wealthy Americans while dealing a devastating blow to rhino conservation, Kitty Block, president of the Humane Society of the United States, said in a statement. With fewer than 2,000 black rhinos left in Namibia and with rhino poaching on the rise now is the time to ensure that every living black rhino remains safe in the wild. Black rhinos must be off limits to trophy hunters.