Female hunter scorned for posing with dead rare black giraffe

Talley defends her actions as a 'conservation' attempt as she posed with the corpse of the 18-year-old giraffe

An American woman stirred another controversy for posing with a rare black giraffe she shot dead in South Africa.

The hunter defended her actions as a 'conservation' attempt as she posed with the corpse of the 18-year-old giraffe, BBC reported.

37-year-old, Tess Thompson Talley resides in Kentucky. She posted photos of herself with the animal, taken while on a South African hunting trip the previous year.

“Prayers for my once in a lifetime dream hunt came true today," Talley wrote in a post, “Spotted this rare black giraffe bull and stalked him for quite a while. I knew it was the one. He was over 18 years old, 4,000 lbs and was blessed to be able to get 2,000 lbs of meat from him.”



Talley’s photographs were largely overlooked until they were posted recently by Africa Digest, the Twitter account for the website africlandpost.com.

“White American savage who is partly a Neanderthal comes to Africa and shoots down a very rare black giraffe courtesy of South Africa stupidity. Her name is Tess Thompson Talley. Please share,” Africa Digest said in a tweet.

White american savage who is partly a neanderthal comes to Africa and shoot down a very rare black giraffe coutrsey of South Africa stupidity. Her name is Tess Thompson Talley. Please share pic.twitter.com/hSK93DOOaz

— AfricaDigest (@africlandpost) June 16, 2018

“If our so called governments can’t care for our wildlife then it’s time we stand up and responsibility of our continent, lands, resources and wildlife....share share share! and lets have a united voice against pillage of Africa, it’s the only home we have.”

Images of Talley posing with the animal sparked mass outrage as they went viral.

Actress Debra Messing called Talley “a disgusting, vile, amoral, heartless, selfish murderer”.

“With joy in her black heart and a beaming smile she lies next to the dead carcass of a *rare* black giraffe in South Africa. Giraffes are the epitome of gentle giants,” she stated. “They glide across the plains, like liquid; awe inspiring creatures who spend their days eating leaves and caring for their young. How DARE she.”

Comedian Ricky Gervais frequently tweets for animal rights. He said giraffes are “now on the ‘red list' of endangerment due to a 40 per cent decline over the last 25 years”.

“They could become extinct,” he wrote. “Gone forever. And still, we allow spoilt c**** to pay money to shoot them with a bow and arrow for fun.”

Giraffes are now on the 'red list' of endangerment due to a 40% decline over the last 25 years. They could become extinct. Gone forever. And still, we allow spoilt cunts to pay money to shoot them with a bow and arrow for fun. pic.twitter.com/Tu6uxgp7se

— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) June 20, 2018

Lisa Lange, a senior vice president for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) has also spoken out against Talley. She stated "This woman's inability to relate to another living being, to reduce this magnificent wild animal to a corpse, and gloat over her ability to kill, then saying she is involved in “conservation” is like saying that killing some humans will solve world hunger."

 

Talley could not immediately be contacted for comment by BBC News. She did, however, defend her actions in a statement to US news channel, Fox News.

“The giraffe I hunted was the South African sub-species of giraffe. The numbers of this sub-species is actually increasing due, in part, to hunters and conservation efforts paid for in large part by big game hunting,” she claimed.

“The breed is not rare in any way other than it was very old. Giraffes get darker with age," she added, “This is called conservation through game management.”

“The giraffe in the photo is of the South African species Giraffa giraffe, which are not rare--they are increasing in the wild,” Julian Fennessy, who is the co-founder of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation said in a statement to Yahoo Lifestyle. “Legal hunting of giraffe is not a reason for their decline, despite the moral and ethical side of it which is a different story.”



Texan lawyer and ethical hunter, Nikki Tate sparked outrage last year after she posed with dead animals. Tate, 27, claimed to receive death threats after the incident, but also received messages of support.

A dentist named Walter Palmer in 2015 killed Cecil the Lion in Zimbabwe. The Minnesota dentist caused similar controversy and international uproar.

“I get that hunting is not for everyone. That’s what makes this world great is the differences. But to make threats to anyone because they don’t believe the way you do is completely unacceptable,” Talley has said.

“If it was any other belief that was different, threats and insults would be deemed hideous. However, for some reason it is OK to act this way because it’s hunting.”

This article originally appeared on BBC News.