Extreme Huntress Rebecca Francis plays the victim after Ricky Gervais condemns hunting pics

A FEMALE hunter who was condemned by Ricky Gervais for smiling while she posed next to a dead giraffe has accused the British comedian of sexism.

A FEMALE hunter who was attacked online by Ricky Gervais for posing smiling next to a giraffe she had just killed has accused the British comedian of sexism.

Rebecca Francis said she received death threats after Gervais tweeted the five-year-old photo alongside the question. “What must’ve happened to you in your life to make you want to kill a beautiful animal and then lie next to it smiling?”

In response to a barrage of online abuse Francis, dubbed by one of her detractors as “The Death Angel”, claimed she had shot dead the animal to provide food for locals, claiming she “chose to honor his life” after “he was kicked out of his herd ... and close to death”.

Gervais hit back with more images of Francis posing with dead animals, captioning the tweet sarcastically: “After killing that giraffe out of the kindness of her heart and feeding the poor locals she had these for pudding.”

The US grandmother-of-nine has now responded with a statement attacking Gervais for using “his power and influence to specifically target women in the hunting industry”, claiming he had “sparked thousands of people to call for my death, the death of my family and many other women who hunt.”

In the statement, posted on the Facebook page of the Hunting Life website, Francis wrote: “This has evolved into an issue about the morality of threatening human lives over disagreeing with someone else’s beliefs. It shocks me that people who claim to be so loving and caring for animals can turn around and threaten to murder and rape my children. Where is the logic in that?”

Gervais has made no response to Francis’ statement but his Twitter feed has been filled with links to anti-hunting groups and campaigns.

While Francis statement attracted more criticism it also received over 2000 likes.

Facebook user Lee Andrew wrote: “I don’t wish you harm. I do however strongly disagree with hunting for pleasure and then posing for pics with your kill. To try and make yourself a victim on the basis of your gender looks very desperate on your part.”

Francis, who grew up in Utah and in 2010 won a US-based reality television show competition called Extreme Huntress, says she learned to hunt from an early age and wants to “share my passion with everyone, especially other women”.

After killing that giraffe out of the kindness of her heart and feeding the poor locals she had these for pudding. pic.twitter.com/P3nP4ACDKI

— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) April 16, 2015

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 anger after posting a photo of herself with a dead lion, leading to her removal from the National Geographic program Ultimate Survivor Alaska.

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