If there’s one so-called sport that should be deemed illegal, it’s trophy hunting. Killing animals just for fun and for the kick has resulted in so many unnecessary deaths of unsuspecting and harmless wild animals, and yet it seems like the trophy hunting industry – particularly in Africa – is a booming business.
One American woman who went on a recreational hunting trip in South Africa proudly shared her killed animals and posted her trophy pictures on social media.
The woman, Tess Thompson Talley, is an avid hunter and her social media posts are highly controversial, to say the least. However, it was her most recent picture that resulted in her getting even more backlash for her hunting activities.
She decided to kill a rare giraffe, proudly pose with it and brag about taking its life online.
“Prayers for my once in a lifetime Dream hunt came true today! Spotted this rare black giraffe bull and stalked him for quite awhile. 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,” she wrote on her Facebook profile.
The post is accompanied by two pictures of the woman standing in front of the majestic, innocent and endangered animal whose life she just took for no reason at all.
Tess’ social media posts – which were public at the time – did not go unnoticed. As a result, her photos have been seen across the internet and the amount of criticism and backlash she’s getting is significant.
There is just no point in killing animals for ‘sport’, and to kill this rare black giraffe, an endangered species – that just makes it even worse.
International news outlets – especially a number of African newspapers – didn’t hesitate to share the pictures that this woman took and publically outed her for her cruel actions.
For example, Africa Digest wasn’t mild for the shooter, and we can’t really blame them.
“White American savage who is partly a neanderthal comes to Africa and shoot down a very rare black giraffe courtesy of South Africa stupidity,” their official account wrote on Twitter.
Even though the pictures were taken a year ago, Tess’ pictures only went viral recently. Plenty of users on Twitter expressed their outrage:
“So Tess Thompson Talley says giraffes are not becoming extinct and they kill for conservation…but kills a RARE black giraffe. What an intelligent human being she is. #sarcasm #AnimalRights #notsocluelessantihunters #TTT #itsnotconservation” wrote Yasmeen Stecller.
“I’m horrified by seeing these pictures. People like her are actually killing defenseless animals for pleasure!! This needs to stop. NOW!!! #BanTrophyHunting” Twitter-user Daan Jordens added.
Another interesting note is that the American hunter decided to share her trophy pictures on a very specific day, June 21st, also known as World Giraffe Day.
Giraffes are actually almost endangered, mainly because of the threat of recreational killing.
Over the past thirty years, the total giraffe population on the planet has decreased by over 40% according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Reasons for the decline are the loss of natural habitat and new ecological situations, but the main reason why they’re a few steps away from being a completely endangered species is trophy hunting.
Just a couple of dozens of years ago, scientists weren’t worried in the least about the extinction of giraffes – it’s a shame and shocking that the situation today is very different.
After a number of hunting controversies, some African countries have outright banned trophy hunting, including Kenya and Botswana. Brazil and India have followed in their footsteps, but there’s still a long way to go.
Our animals shouldn’t have to fear for their lives on this beautiful planet. We can only hope that trophy killing will become a thing of the past, sooner rather than later.
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