The Humane Society of the United States' president and CEO wrote Brigham Young University President Cecil O. Samuelson today, urging him to conduct an ethics investigation into BYU's involvement in the killing of a white rhino and its acquisition of the animal's skin for purported educational and conservation purposes. 

The university's Monte L. Bean Life Sciences Museum recruited one of its benefactors, Fred Morris, to hunt a white rhino in a South African national park in order to mount the animal's skin in a public exhibit aimed at "educating the public about endangered species and raising money for their conservation," according to a Nov. 14 story in The Salt Lake Tribune.

"White rhinos are one of the rarest large mammals in the world, and it stands logic on its head to think that killing one of these remarkable creatures would serve the purposes of conservation and education," said The HSUS' President and CEO Wayne Pacelle. "The founders of the Church of Latter Day Saints taught that animals should be treated with kindness and respect, and this behavior is directly at odds with those religious standards."

Several ethical questions, including the reasoning behind museum officials' recruitment of a museum benefactor and avid hunter to kill the animal, were raised in Mr. Pacelle's letter to Mr. Samuelson.

The Tribune reported that the animal's skin is to be mounted during a public taxidermy display at the museum expected to run through January.

Mr. Pacelle called on Mr. Samuelson to take the following actions:

• Halt preparation for public display of the white rhino killed by Mr. Morris
• Instruct the museum to suspend the acquisition of additional trophy hunted specimens
• Conduct a thorough investigation into the process by which Mr. Morris was requisitioned by the museum to kill a white rhino
• Provide a full public accounting that addresses the ethical questions raised in this letter
• Adopt Museum policies that address the ethical questions raised in this letter; at a minimum, we recommend that a policy be adopted that "under no circumstances whatsoever may any trapped or hunted vertebrate animal be introduced into BYU research or teaching facilities except when collected as part of scientific research approved by the BYU Animal Use and Care Committee. All such collecting shall reflect the University's commitment to preserve and guard the living heritage of the earth and to the humane and ethical treatment of animals."

To see a copy of the letter, please click here. 

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The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization—backed by 10 million Americans, or one of every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education, and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty—on the web at  humanesociety.org .