Extreme Huntress Rebecca Francis hit back at critics

IN THE face of a fierce backlash over a photo of her alongside a carcass, extreme hunter Rebecca Francis reckons she’s come up with a good excuse.

AFTER being hit with a torrent of online abuse for posing next to a slain giraffe, a female hunter dubbed “the Death Angel” by her detractors has hit back, saying she has no regrets.

US hunter Rebecca Francis rose to recognition in hunting circles when she won a US-based reality television show competition called Extreme Huntress and went on to host a hunting show.

She became recognised worldwide earlier this week after comedian Ricky Gervais posted a photo of her lying next to the dead animal with the caption: “What must’ve happened to you in your life to make you want to kill a beautiful animal then lie next to it smiling?”. The comedian’s post got the ball rolling and Francis was slammed in an global online attack.

“What must’ve happened to you in your life?” ... the image Ricky Gervais posted that started it all.

Responding to her critics, the Utah huntress claims the photo, from a trip to Africa five years ago, was taken after a request by locals to kill the animal, claiming she “chose to honour his life” after “he was kicked out of his herd ... and close to death”.

In the statement delivered via Huntinglife.com Facebook page, Francis attempts to explain why she killed the giraffe, claiming she was asked to, and says she does not regret it.

“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,” the statement reads.

“They showed me this beautiful old bull giraffe that was all alone. 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.”

Francis goes on to say she was asked preserve the giraffe “by providing all the locals with food”.

“He was inevitably going to die soon and he could either be wasted or utilized by the local people. I chose to honor his life by providing for others with his uses and I do not regret it for one second,” the statement reads.

“I am grateful to be part of something so good.”

We just connected with Rebecca Francis and got a statement on her Giraffe hunt that anti-hunters are attacking her for. ...

Posted by HuntingLife.com on Tuesday, April 14, 2015

In the post, written alongside another posed photograph of Francis with a giraffe, she describes what happened “once he was down”, saying people were waiting to take his meat, but does not address having the offending photograph taken.

Like Gervais’ original post, the Facebook rebuttal has attracted negative comments, many focusing on the unaddressed issue of the decision to take the photo, along with more than 16,500 likes and more than 5,500 shares.

“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!” one commenter wrote.

“Posing with a dead giraffe shot by you is a disgrace no matter how you paint your little PR picture. If it was such a good hearted thing you did then why did it need a pose,” said another.

Rebecca Francis with a dead lion.

‘The Huntress’ proudly shared her kills.

The publisher, Huntinglife.com, has stepped in defending Francis on the thread and replying to the haters with messages of ethical hunting and justifying the picture.

“To a hunter every animal they take cleanly and ethically is a trophy and a memory that will last forever,” one reply read.

“We are prideful the human species and we have been documenting our hunts for the last 75,000 years in petroglyphs and now in photographs. Nothing has changed.”

Despite the onslaught of objection it’s unlikely Francis and her fellow hunters’ attitudes will change, having not learnt from previous controversies the hobby has been hit by.

In 2013 trophy hunter Melissa Bachman ignited controversy after posting a photo of herself with a dead lion, leading to her removal from National Geographic program Ultimate Survivor Alaska.

Glenn McGrath said it was “highly inappropriate” to pose with the dead elephant.

More recently and closer to home former Australian cricket great Glenn McGrath copped it when pictures emerged of him posing with a dead elephant and holding a rifle during a 2008 African safari trip.

McGrath apologised and said the photographs were “highly inappropriate”.

A spokeswoman for PETA said: “I recommend she gets a camera and shoots pictures, not animals”.