The backlash was swift against Tess Thompson Talley after a news site posted them.
An American woman has been vilified by concerned citizens and celebrities alike over photos that show her posing with the corpse of a rare black giraffe she killed while on safari in South Africa.
AfricLand Post put her images on social media, calling the woman a "white American savage." The woman was identified as Kentucky resident Tess Thompson Talley.
"White American savage who is partly a neanderthal comes to Africa and shoot down a very rare black giraffe courtesy of South Africa stupidity," AfricLand Post tweeted. "Her name is Tess Thompson Talley. Please share."
The photos were originally posted last year after the woman took a hunting trip in South Africa. In posts that have since been deleted, Talley wrote, “Prayers for my once in a lifetime dream hunt came true today! Spotted this rare black giraffe bull and stalked him for quite awhile. I knew it was the one. He was over 18 years old, 4,000 lbs. and was blessed to be able to get 2,000 lbs of meat from him."
After the AfricLand posting, Talley drew comparisons to Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer, who killed a beloved lion, Cecil, near a national park in Zimbabwe in 2015. He later said he didn't know the animal was popular and expressed regret.
In an email to Fox News, Talley wrote, "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."
Trophy hunting is legal in South Africa, as well as in Zimbabwe, Namibia and Zambia.
But celebrities who include British funnyman Ricky Gervais and "Will & Grace" star Debra Messing have taken to social media to blast the woman's actions, with Gervais calling the woman a word not suitable for print.
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