American Woman Who Shot And Posed With Rare Giraffe Is Being Roasted Online

An American hunter is being dragged across social media after photos of her surfaced posing with a rare giraffe she shot and killed as part of a so-called “conservation effort.”
Last week, photos of Tess Thompson Talley went viral after she posed with a “rare” black giraffe she had shot and killed. Twitter account @AfricaDigest has shared the photos with the caption:

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

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According to reports, the photos originally appeared on Talley’s Facebook page in 2017, where she posed with the dead giraffe writing:

“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, 4000 lbs (1800kg) and was blessed to be able to get 2000 lbs (900kg) of meat from him.”

After they resurfaced, people online who saw the photos were outraged over the photos–calling the American women a “savage” and “heartless.” However, Tess Thompson Talley told CBS in a statement that she had hunted the “old giraffe” as part of an effort to save younger giraffes from attack.

“This is called conservation through game management.”

In an email to Fox News, Talley said:

“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. The breed is not rare in any way other than it was very old. Giraffes get darker with age.”

However, reports indicate that there are fewer than 100,000 giraffes left on the continent of Africa. Additionally, animal rights activists, like comedian Ricky Gervais, point out that giraffes are now on the “red list” of endangerment.

Actress Debra Messing also spoke out against Talley’s photos and kill.

Tess Thompson Talley from Nippa, Kentucky is 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. They glide across the plains, like liquid; awe inspiring creatures who spend their days eating leaves and caring for their young. How DARE she. A rare animal that will be extinct by the time her grandchildren can go and gutlessly sit in the brush with a scope and pull a trigger. It does not take skill to have a ranger track a giraffe for you, and with the aid of night vision glasses and a scope, pull a trigger like some Carnival game. If you need to eat a giraffe? Get a bow and arrow and make it at least a fair fight. I am disgusted by people like you Tess. You reek of privilege and ignorance. Shame on you. And your husband Andrew Claude. Unconscionable. Irreparable damage. Irreplaceable beauty. #tessthompsontalley #trophyhunting #trophyhunter (SWIPE)

A post shared by Debra Messing (@therealdebramessing) on

Many others on Twitter began expressing their outrage over the photos and the fact that someone could be proud of killing an innocent animal like this.

 

There were those online, however, who supported Talley in her “conservation” efforts.

According to the BBC, trophy hunting–like Talley’s kill–is a $2 billion-per-year industry. In South Africa and other African countries, trophy hunting is a legal practice that attracts many tourists–especially American. And, while giraffes may be coming closer to becoming endangered, the specific giraffe Talley killed was not an illegal kill–making what she did more of a moral problem than a legal one. Personally, I think it’s sickening and disgusting to hunt animals like this. But, all over the world, people do it every day for fun–legally. It’s whether or not you believe animals deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and not just food.