Free Republic

Windhoek (AFP) - A US hunter who paid $350,000 to kill a black rhinoceros in Namibia successfully shot the animal on Monday, saying that his actions would help protect the critically-endangered species. Corey Knowlton, from Texas, downed the rhino with a high-powered rifle after a three-day hunt through the bush with government officials on hand to ensure he killed the correct animal. Knowlton, 36, won the right to shoot the rhino at an auction in Dallas in early 2014 -- attracting fierce criticism from many conservationists and even some death threats. He took a CNN camera crew on the hunt...

AL-JAZIRAH DESERT — The Incident Response Team of Marine Wing Support Squadron 374, Marine Wing Support Group 37, patrols the northern Iraqi desert as a security measure for all Marines operating in the area. Named ‘Team Black Rhino,’ these 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) Marines have become the first wing support squadron to fill the role of a mounted combat team in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Marine Wing Support Squadrons frequently travel around the Anbar province, providing aviation ground support for the flying squadrons operating in country. The team operates on a different level, providing a ground combat component like that...

Charles Hamilton has just returned to the UK from Zimbabwe, where his family runs the park. He called the situation "desperate"... The pictures showed all three of his family's adult black rhinos, lying dead on the dusty floor. You can see the bullet-holes in their thick hides. "It's just totally unbelievable," Charles sighed. For the past 20 years the family has been rearing the animals and returning them to the wild, but last week, in the dead of night, armed men in camouflage gear burst onto the site and shot dead all three adult females. One of them was just...