Hi paulavg, As much as I dislike trophy hunting, I have to admit that hunting is not the problem and could be the one thing that will save these beautiful animals. Professional hunters who provide for Trophy hunters take great care to ensure that animals in their areas are in top condition. 99% of the time the Trohy animal is an old male of which ever species who is no longer able to breed and has been chased out of the herd. Professional hunters do not want the younger breeding bulls with Trophy Horns Tusks etc, shot as they want them to breed and pass on their genes which should produce Trophy animals in the future. By the same token they dont shoot females as this is where the future trophys will come from.

The main reason I say hunting may be the only thing that will save these beautiful animals, is that the professional hunters can not afford to have poachers taking all the best horns and Ivory as they will be out of business pretty quickly, therefore they pay for professional anti poaching units out of their own pockets to protect the animals from poachers. It is better to have a few old bulls shot for Trophys (Rich people paying for the protection of wild life) than to have poachers wipe out entire species.