Boom Boom Arriving at Out Of Africa Wildlife Park

Formerly owned by the Catskill Game Farm in New York State, Boom Boom was auctioned to the highest bidder, along with 1,000 other animals, when the game farm went out of business. Boom Boom's new owner was a purported game hunter from Texas where canned hunts are legal. Canned hunting is the killing of an animal in an enclosure to obtain a trophy.

Teamed with a coalition of locals and animal activists, Marc Ecko, of New York City, negotiated the rescue and repurchase of the rhino, paying twice the amount of the winning bid. Ecko is the founder of the world famous rhino-branded apparel line, *ecko unltd., and a staunch supporter of rhino relief. Ecko then placed Boom Boom on permanent loan to Out of Africa and paid for the cost of his shipping in return for lifelong sanctuary for the beast, a member of the few remaining species of megafaunas in the world.

Rhinos are endangered creatures and have been protected by the CITES treaty since 1970. However, poachers who use their horns in medicines, ornamental items, and aphrodisiacs, as well as big game trophy hunters, continue to diminish their numbers.