Rebecca Francis Giraffe photo was taken five years ago, but it was only on April 13 that it earned massive attention. Comedian Ricky Gervais, a known animal rights activist posted Rebecca Francis Giraffe photo on his Twitter on Monday and it earned public and online outcry for the hunter's pose with the killed animal.
Gervais shared Rebecca Francis Giraffe photo to his 7.55 million followers and it was right away retweeted 34,000 times. Since it came out, the controversial Francis pose with the dead giraffe spurred attention of animal activists and even earned her death threats, according to CNN.
Gervais wrote on his Twitter, "What must've happened to you in your life to make you want to kill a beautiful animal & then lie next to it smiling?"
What must've happened to you in your life to make you want to kill a beautiful animal & then lie next to it smiling? pic.twitter.com/DyYw1T5ck2
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) April 13, 2015
The same Rebecca Francis Giraffe photo was seen on Rebecca Francis official page, which she published on August 20, 2010. Since Gervais tweeted the photo, Francis has been targeted by both animal rights activists and online critics saying that her action in killing the giraffe is something unacceptable.
However, although Francis was attacked by online bashers, she also earned support from other group including Huntinglife.com. On Tuesday, Francis aired her side to Huntinglife.com regarding the contentious Rebecca Francis Giraffe photo.
Francis explanation was posted by Huntinglife.com on its official Facebook page.
"When I was in Africa five years ago I was of the mindset that I would never shoot a giraffe. I was approached toward the end of my hunt with a unique circumstance. They showed me this beautiful old bull giraffe that was wandering all alone,” she wrote.
“He had been kicked out of the herd by a younger and stronger bull. He was past his breeding years and very close to death. They asked me if I would preserve this giraffe by providing all the locals with food and other means of survival.”
She added the giraffe was inevitably going to die soon and he could either be wasted or utilized by the local people. She chose to honor his life by providing others with his uses and I do not regret it for one second.
On Rebecca Francis Giraffe photo, she added all parts of the dead giraffe had been very useful for the people. They took its meat, tail to make jewelry, bones to make other things. She confidently stated they did not waste a single part of him.
In her words, Rebecca Francis has no regrets for killing the giraffe as she stated that she is grateful to be a part of something so good.
Huntinglife.com supported the hunter by saying that “Rebecca Francis is a hunter/conservationist” and that they are 100% behind her.
Rebecca Francis Giraffe photo received a lot of criticisms on Twitter, but with her explanation on Huntinglife.com Facebook page, she found the support of more than 18,000 people who liked the post.
Rebecca Francis defended that the alleged Rebecca Francis Giraffe photo was ethical and fair because the old giraffe will die eventually so people might as well benefit from the dead animal.
One reply from Facebook user about Rebecca Francis Giraffe photo, “Personally I don’t see how she could stand at the side of the animal with a big smile on her face even if she did do it a favour, she’s posing like she has a trophy!”
Huntinglife.com replied that to a hunter every animal they take cleanly and ethically is a trophy and a memory that will last forever. The site also claims that they are documenting their hunts for the last 75,000 year in petroglyphs and now in photographs.
While Rebecca Francis Giraffe photo has been circulating on the social media, a YouTube video capturing how the female hunter was tracking down the giraffe can be seen on the video below. It was featured on “Eye of the Hunter.”
“It was so exciting,” she tells one of her South African animal trackers.
