(CBS) — An American hunter is pushing back against her critics, after photos of her next to a giraffe she killed in South Africa triggered outrage. Tess Thompson Talley told CBS News in a statement she killed the old bull giraffe to prevent it from attacking younger giraffes. She said, “This is called conservation through game management.”
This situation is being compared to Cecil the lion, the iconic big cat hunted down by a Minnesota dentist in 2015, reports CBS News’ David Begnaud. Even though the giraffe in this case was not world famous like Cecil, the response from animal lovers is just as intense.
Fewer than 100,000 giraffes remain on the entire continent. So when pictures surfaced of Talley posing with a giraffe she just killed, conservationists were sickened.
“It’s shocking that anyone would take joy or pleasure in killing a beautiful and graceful animal like a giraffe,” said Iris Ho, who tracks trophy hunting at Humane Society International.
To read the full story, click here.
