Botswana gov't says "alarm" at American hunter killing endangered rhino

The Botswana government on Friday said it "notes with alarm" the CNN documentary portraying American hunter Corey Knowlton shooting a black rhino in Namibia.

The American hunter killed an endangered black rhino in Namibia on Monday after paying 350,000 U.S. dollars, a move that has been condemned by animal welfare advocates. He arrived in Namibia on May 13 accompanied by a CNN crew, and killed the rhino using a high-powered rifle in the northern part of the country.

The permit was issued by Namibia's environment and tourism ministry and auctioned by the Dallas Safari Club in January last year.

The 36-year-old hunter from Texas argued that killing the rhino was not the work of a bloodthirsty American hunter, but a vital component of Namibia's effort to save the animal from extinction.

"We would have hoped that the amount of money he paid for the hunt could have been used instead to relocate the rhino to a country like ours," the Botswana government posted the statement on it's official facebook page BWgovernment.

The government further said it would have welcomed such an initiative and put the rhino in an area it would not be a threat to other rhinos and contribute to our tourism and education efforts, adding that it appeals for such consideration in future.

"As for Mr. Knowlton, whose actions and unconvincing attempts to justify them, is not welcome in Botswana," said the statement. Endi