'He was delicious': Hunter who shot giraffe defends killing
An American woman who shot and killed a giraffe is defending herself after she received mass backlash from posting photos of her “trophy kill” on social media.
Tess Thompson Talley posted photos of herself proudly posing with the dead animal she paid to have the chance to kill in 2017.
“He was delicious," she told CBS.
"Not only was he beautiful and majestic, but he was good."
Ms Talley recently defended her actions telling CBS she killed the 18-year-old giraffe to prevent it from attacking three younger giraffes.
"This is called conservation through game management," she said.
On her website, Ms Talley posted the following statement:
“It’s very expensive to protect animals around the world from themselves, over population, diseases and poachers.
“Hunters give animals the financial support and time to make those conservation efforts more successful than any other singular group.”
Paul Babaz, president of the hunting advocacy group Safari Club International, told CBS the kill was legal.
"She was hunting in South Africa and giraffes are legal to hunt in South Africa."
He went on to say that Ms Talley ate some of the giraffe's meat but donated most of it to local villagers and orphanages. He couldn’t provide any documentation to back up his claim.
“People may not like what I do – what we do – but once they look at the facts, they cannot deny that it’s keeping herds healthy, economies in check, and bonus, people fed,” Ms Talley said.
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Ms Talley told NBC that after killing the animal, she made a gun case and pillows from the hide.
The Texas woman claims she has gone through “hell” and has received death threats since posting the photo on social media a year ago.
"I have encountered cameras at my work, I've received mail at my home, text messages," she told CBS.
She has been on several ‘trophy hunts’ since she killed the giraffe and believes she is doing the right thing.
"I'm not gonna back down, I'm gonna stand up for what I do, for what I believe, and everyone else that does it as well," she said.
“I have been faced with more controversy, misunderstandings, and hate in the past year that I have ever dreamed was possible, but I will persist,” she wrote in a statement on her website.
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