SAVING THE PLANET
US game hunter Tess Thompson Talley claims she was carrying out ‘conservation’ by shooting rare black giraffe in South Africa.
She hit back after she was branded ‘murdering scum’ by Brit comedian Ricky Gervais.
AN American trophy hunter who sparked outrage by gunning down a rare black giraffe has claimed she was carrying out “conservation”.
Tess Thompson Talley was called “murdering scum” after she struck a celebratory pose beside the two-ton beast’s corpse in South Africa.
She has hit back and insisted the thousands paid by each foreign hunter helps African countries save wildlife.
Tess told Fox News: “The giraffe I hunted was the South African sub-species of giraffe.
“The number of this sub-species is actually increasing due, in part, to hunters and conservation efforts paid for in large part by big game hunting.
“This is called conservation through game management.”
She added: “The breed is not rare in any way other than it was very old. Giraffes get darker with age.”
Tess also hinted she has received threats since the pictures, taken in June 2017, emerged online this week.
The images were shared on Twitter by an account called Africa Digest.
It said: “White American savage who is partly a neanderthal comes to Africa and shoots down a very rare black giraffe courtesy of South Africa stupidity.”
Actress and activist Debra Messing called Tess “a disgusting, vile, amoral, heartless, selfish murderer”.
Ricky Gervais tweeted sarcastically: “Well done. You managed to shoot a stationery, 14ft peaceful creature with a high velocity rifle. Very sporting.”
And he raged on Facebook: “I’m sick of Trophy Hunters trying to excuse their grim sport by saying they provide a service.
“Imagine a vet paying you to put down your dog and then taking a selfie next to the corpse.
“If they really wanted to do a good deed they would donate the money and NOT shoot the animal.
“They would be heroes then. As opposed to murdering scum.”
Talley, from Kentucky, had boasted about her “kill” on social media last year.
She said in a caption: “Prayers for my once in a lifetime dream hunt came true today!
“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, 4,000lbs and was blessed to be able to get 2,000lbs of meat from him.”
She said the giraffe meat fed local villagers.
Julian Fennessy, co-founder of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, said the population of the South African giraffe sub-species is increasing in the wild.