A Texas hunter who is paying $350,000 (£235,000) to shoot a Black Rhino in Africa has been granted permission to import the animal's carcass to the U.S. as a trophy. Corey Knowlton sparked fury among animal rights activists after bidding for the right to shoot the animal at an auction held by the Dallas Safari Club last year. After news of the auction broke Mr Knowlton received death threats and has had to hire a private security team. Trophy: Texas big game hunter Corey Knowlton has been granted permission to bring the carcass of a Black Rhino back to the U.S. A file picture of two Black Rhinos. The Namibian government issues a small number of licences to hunt the animals with the proceeds used to fund anti-poaching efforts . The number of Black Rhinos left in Africa has fallen from 70,000 fifty years ago to just 5,000. Namibia controversially allows a small number of the animals, normally older male bulls, to be hunted each year with fees going to fund anti-poaching efforts. They claim the strategy has led to their black rhino population doubling between 2001 and 2012. More than 150,000 people signed petitions calling on the US Fish and Wildlife Service not to grant Mr Knowlton a permit to bring the carcass home. Campaign: More than 150,000 people signed petitions calling on the US Fish and Wildlife Service not to grant Mr Knowlton a permit to bring the carcass home . But the agency decided that as the $350,000 was going towards conservation efforts, allowing the carcass to be brought to the U.S. would not breach the endangered species act. Last year they approved a similar permit for another American hunter, Las Vegas-based investor Michael Luzich, who paid $200,000 directly to the Namibian government to kill a Black Rhino. Under Namibia's management plan, which began in 1995, the black rhino population has grown from 2,400 to 4,880 in 15 years. Prior to Namibia's poaching boom in the 1960s, the country had around 70,000 black rhinos. The program allows for the culling of five old male bulls to support younger males in mating and growing the population. There is a high demand for poaching rhino horns, since they are used as traditional Asian medicine in China and Vietnam. The horns can fetch as much as $50,000 per kilogram on the black market. Poachers’ attempts to retrieve the horns have hit news headlines, with some efforts leaving behind gruesome pictures of rhinos bleeding to death. If the poaching continues, estimates by rhinosurvival.org say the rhino will be extinct by 2025. Since publishing the initial request in November, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received more than 15,000 comments, as well as petitions with about 152,000 signatures demanding that it be denied. 'United States citizens make up a disproportionately large share of foreign hunters who book trophy hunts in Africa,' said Dan Ashe, director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, in a statement. 'That gives us a powerful tool to support countries that are managing wildlife populations in a sustainable manner and incentivize others to strengthen their conservation and management programs.' Humane Society of the United States chief executive Wayne Pacelle said the federal agency is sending a 'mixed message,' noting rhino poaching is on the rise. PETA said Thursday that it will file a lawsuit. Dallas Safari Club spokeswoman Jay Ann Cox could not immediately confirm Thursday whether a date has been set for the hunt. In a letter to the agency in December, the club's executive director, Ben Carter, said the money raised from such auctions is 'critical to supporting the Namibian government in their efforts to stem the tide of commercial killing of these animals.' Mr Knowlton, a consultant to a hunting organisation in Virginia, is pictured on his own Facebook page posing with numerous dead animals. Mr Knowlton, right, a consultant to a hunting organisation in Virginia, is pictured on his own Facebook page posing with numerous dead animals . Activists have set up a mock Facebook page using his picture with devil horns drawn over it . Environmentalists say the animals are already being hunted for their prized horns, and that allowing them to be hunted is wrong. 'Kill it to save it is counterintuitive and flawed logic,' said Jeff Flocken, the North American regional director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare. 'The fact that some Americans are showing they will pay any price to kill one of the last black rhinos is not going to help the species in the long run but only continue to put a price on its head.'
Corey Knowlton won right to kill the animal at an auction last year . But he was waiting for permission to bring the carcass back to the U.S.
150,000 people signed petition demanding his request should be denied . Namibia sells small number of Rhino-hunting licences every year . Money is used to fund anti-poaching efforts under controversial scheme .