Illegal Rhino Skull Seized In Hudson Valley [PHOTO]

GREENE COUNTY, NY — A Greene County man was accused of having an illegal rhino skull. State environmental conservation police officers and investigators with the Bureau of Environmental Crimes Investigation unit conducted an undercover operation into the sale of a black rhino skull on March 25.

A Greene County man who sold the skull to an undercover investigator was arrested and charged with illegal commercialization of wildlife.

He is due back in court in April to answer the charges, the state Department of Environmental Conservation said.

Black rhinos are listed as critically endangered, the DEC said, and it is illegal to sell any part of them under the state Environmental Conservation Law.

It is estimated that somewhere between 5,000 and 5,500 black rhinos are left in the wild.

The Greene County case is still under investigation, the DEC said.

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