Posted on 07/01/2018 7:59:54 PM PDT by ATOMIC_PUNK
Photos of a female hunter from Kentucky proudly showing off the results of her “dream hunt” – a dead black giraffe in South Africa – have ignited a firestorm across social media after being picked up by a local African media outlet.
“White American savage who is partly a Neanderthal comes to Africa and shoot down a very rare black giraffe courtesy of South Africa stupidity,” read the June 2018 tweet, posted by Africa Digest. “Her name is Tess Thompson Talley. Please share.”
The controversial images, which were posted by a Kentucky woman identified as Tess Thompson Talley a year ago, show her standing proudly beside a dead giraffe bull along with the 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, 4000 lbs. and was blessed to be able to get 2000 lbs. of meat from him.”
Trophy hunting is a legal practice in a number of African countries, including South Africa, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
“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,” said Talley, in an email to Fox News.
She points out that the giraffe she killed was 18, too old to breed, and had killed three younger bulls who were able to breed, causing the herd’s population to decrease. Now, with the older giraffe dead, the younger bulls are able to continue to breed and can increase the population
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
And I wonder just how many of these people who consider hunters to be “weird” and talk about “spirits” and “vessels” have ever spent a dime on conservation efforts here in the US or anywhere else.
Define trophy hunting.
I’m a hunter and I consider myself a trophy hunter. I choose to take mature, representative members of the species I pursue, not just any deer, for example. Everything I hunt, I eat. In my case, I limit myself almost exclusively to bow hunting, I take only high-percentage shots and frequently go without taking a deer, sometimes for several years. That is the definition of trophy hunting as determined by the community of ethical, responsible hunters.
What you and many of the other, ignorant people who have commented on this post are defining as “trophy hunting” is, in the United States and almost every other country in which hunting is legal - including Africa - illegal. Your definition of trophy hunting is one concocted by the anti-hunting, animal rights and environmental movements, as well as the left-wing media, to appeal to the emotions of people who don’t know any better. It is not legal to kill an animal, remove only the horns, antlers and skin, and leave the rest to rot. In some states and most countries in Africa, it’s considered a serious offense.
In the case of the giraffe mentioned in this article, people from local villages got about a ton of meat, most of the hide, probably some other useful parts and the South African government got a lot of money for use for anti-poaching programs, habitat improvement and yes, culling operations.
I’ve made a number of comments on this post and, for the record, I’ve never hunted in Africa, although I’ve been there several times when I was on active duty. I am, however, a hunter and a trophy hunter - as defined by the community of ethical, responsible hunters, not the animal rights/anti-hunting/environmental movements and the left-wing media.
“Guides”, actually known as professional hunters or “PHs”, who are tested and licensed by the game departments of the countries in which they operate, are obligated to ensure that every useful part of the animals taken by their clients is accounted for, usually by local villagers. Furthermore, the hunts themselves are not excessively expensive. The majority of the cost of an African hunt is in the trophy fees, which can run into the tens of thousands of dollars, all of which goes to support anti-poaching, habitat improvement and occasionally culling of excess animals.
Just FYI, I’ve been hunting a long time and I’ve met many women hunters. Most of them are in good shape, quite attractive and just all-around good people.
It’s a melanistic giraffe and animals with excess melanin are generally referred to as “black” by biologists.
Come on, you’re not really that dense or ignorant, are you? It’s a very distinctive animal and easy to identify. Professional hunters and game rangers in Africa are VERY aware of problem animals in the areas for which they’re responsible. The chances are, that if he was 12 years old and they knew of three other bulls that he killed, there were probably others that they weren’t aware of.
Neither she, the PH, nor any South African game rangers needed an excuse or justification to anyone. She had a tag, he was a legal game animal and she took him. The fact that younger, healthier bulls were able to survive and breed as a result was just a bonus. What was your “justification” for someone else killing the last chicken or beef that you ate or the leather in the shoes you wear?
It was probably an old bull that needed to be culled so the govt made a boatload of money letting a sport shooter pay to kill it and 2000 lbs of meat for the locals.
It’s cool if a person wants to do this in such a way that is responsible towards the area wildlife.
This is not a thing that I would do though. I am not going to try and terrorize, stalk and otherwise harass this person as it seems some are prone to do, however. This is an action a person chose to take, and if they can live with it, that’s fine.
I couldn’t. I am an animal lover. I would certainly kill a lesser animal for food, no problem, but I just do not want to kill any of the greater animals unless I have to for defensive reasons.
Would prefer that this giraffe continue to battle and kill younger more virile bulls? That the herd numbers and genetic diversity keep declining? Ultimately this bull would have lost a fight and been killed or maimed, then being subject to the most intense experience nature has to offer, getting eaten alive by lions, hyena or buzzards. No meat going to the locals and no hunter cash for conservation. What say you?
“You know ? i’m a hunter ! but i never understood going to another country to kill a docile species of animal just for the fun of it these hunters like me should just plant a garden and kill what comes in your backyard JMO“
I know you’re stating your opinion, but there are a lot of people who would have the same opinion about you and whatever it is you hunt. Who should make the rules? I don’t hunt at all, mainly because I’m lazy, but I wouldn’t criticize you for what you hunt or them for what they hunt. And then there’s the claim that the money from the tags goes back into species preservation.
“I didn’t realize how many PETA folks were FReepers...
Or how many believe that if they don’t want to do something no one else should be allowed(government control) to do it either.
In this day and age, killing elephants, giraffes and such is just plain stupid.
[[So what’s she going to do with her trophy?]]
As explained- the meat went to the native people, the money garnered by the hunt helped the people who are suffering extreme poverty you and I fortunately likely will never have to experience as well- via food lodging, guiding, advice, etc-
[[Hunting just for the trophy is not.]]
I disagree- please see the link i posted before- trophy hunting serves many purposes- and is highly regulated- There are many benefits to trophy hunting- and almost all trophy hunting is done with hte purpose of culling in mind- culling is a very important wildlife management tool to protect and manage not only the animal hunted- but also many other species that are affected by an overpopulation of certain animals. It also helps protect the species by preventing overpopulation and increase in disease and starvation- overpopulation is a huge problem with many species- and if not controlled, leads to untold suffering of animals
Anyways- here’s the link- it’s worth a read- as it spells out why trophy hunting is an important service to wildlife management and to they local communities where the hunts take place- You must remember- people are very desperate for food there- like the article states- people are reduced to eating ‘gut soup’ there because of the extreme poverty- those asre pretty desperate people:
http://www.bigeoutdoors.com/article/to-kill-a-giraffe
What I eat is irrelevant in regards to my comment at #6. Are you an idiot?
Lets see, they don’t allow the protein deficient villagers to have rifles to hunt, but they allow in armed foreigners to come into their country to hunt for them?
Sounds to me like it’s all about who’s got the most money.
Bull shit. No sale. Your comment was posted to me, implying I didn't read the article, when it was you who didn't read my post.
Would you, rather.
Ed Zacry
Very simplistically, for someone with no knowledge of the economy and laws, yes.
They don't want the locals hunting for fear they would harvest too many or harvest the wrong animal.
If you were hunting for food would you want an old animal or a tender young one?
There you go.
And the taking of a young one would have a detrimental effect on the herd while taking out the old bull (who was killing the young ones) will have a beneficial effect on the herd.
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