"A 12-year-old girl has posted photos of herself hunting giraffes and zebras, sparking outrage online.
Aryanna Gourdin and her dad Eli travelled from Utah in the US to South Africa specifically to hunt big game.
While there, she posted a photo on Facebook of herself posing next to a dead zebra with a pink quiver and set of arrows.
‘One of my dream hunts for sure,’ she wrote.
Unsurprisingly, the photos sparked a massive backlash. One had more than 73,000 comments, with people calling her ‘sick’ and an ‘animal hater’.
Aryanna told ABC News afterwards: ‘It’s something I cherish and enjoy, and I want other people to see what I experienced.’
She also posted a lengthy defence of trophy hunting, claiming that the activity is justified because the high prices people pay to kill the animals is donated to conservation efforts.
Commenting on her post, the page We Will Not Be Silenced About Hunters replied: ‘Meanwhile here in South Africa… (Trophy hunters go home, we do NOT want you here). You can try and fool people overseas who don’t know a whole lot about South Africa or the African continent for that matter, but you will NEVER – I repeat, NEVER fool those of us who are here and who work with REAL conservation projects.’
And Will Travers OBE, president and CEO of major conservation charity Born Free Foundation, told Metro.co.uk: ‘What a tragedy. As a parent, I believe we all hope our children will grow up to be compassionate and caring individuals.
It appalls me to see a child killing an animal for “fun” and whose future will be scarred by death and destruction. If only we could talk, maybe she would look at things through different eyes.
But Aryanna later posted another photo, of herself posing with a dead giraffe.
‘I would never back down from hunting,’ she told the network’s Good Morning America programme. ‘I am a hunter, and no matter what people say to me, I’m never going to stop.’"
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Thoughts?
Aryanna Gourdin and her dad Eli travelled from Utah in the US to South Africa specifically to hunt big game.
While there, she posted a photo on Facebook of herself posing next to a dead zebra with a pink quiver and set of arrows.
Unsurprisingly, the photos sparked a massive backlash. One had more than 73,000 comments, with people calling her ‘sick’ and an ‘animal hater’.
Aryanna told ABC News afterwards: ‘It’s something I cherish and enjoy, and I want other people to see what I experienced.’
She also posted a lengthy defence of trophy hunting, claiming that the activity is justified because the high prices people pay to kill the animals is donated to conservation efforts.
Commenting on her post, the page We Will Not Be Silenced About Hunters replied: ‘Meanwhile here in South Africa… (Trophy hunters go home, we do NOT want you here). You can try and fool people overseas who don’t know a whole lot about South Africa or the African continent for that matter, but you will NEVER – I repeat, NEVER fool those of us who are here and who work with REAL conservation projects.’
And Will Travers OBE, president and CEO of major conservation charity Born Free Foundation, told Metro.co.uk: ‘What a tragedy. As a parent, I believe we all hope our children will grow up to be compassionate and caring individuals.
It appalls me to see a child killing an animal for “fun” and whose future will be scarred by death and destruction. If only we could talk, maybe she would look at things through different eyes.
But Aryanna later posted another photo, of herself posing with a dead giraffe.
‘I would never back down from hunting,’ she told the network’s Good Morning America programme. ‘I am a hunter, and no matter what people say to me, I’m never going to stop.’"
Source
Thoughts?
