American Game Hunter Kills Giraffe and Sparks Controversy

Avid American hunter Tess Thompson Talley killed a rare Black Giraffe on a hunting safari in South Africa in June 2017. While images of her posing with the dead animal were published a few months later, it is only within the last couple of weeks that the story has made the headlines and stirred up controversy.

For her part, Ms. Talley was quite excited about the successful hunt and made the following statement at the time:

"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.”

That 1 ton of meat was distributed to local villages.

However, a year later the local media outlet AfricaDigest posted to Twitter on June 16th, 2018 images of Talley posing with the animal's carcass, along with the message:

White american savage who is partly a neanderthal comes to Africa and shoot down a very rare black giraffe coutrsey of South Africa stupidity. Her name is Tess Thompson Talley. Please share

Once the images and the AfricaDigest post made it to the mainstream media, the moral outrage began:

Actress and activist Debra Messing said Ms Talley was “a disgusting, vile, amoral, heartless, selfish murderer”.

“With joy in her black heart and a beaming smile she lies next to the dead carcass of a *rare* black giraffe in South Africa. Giraffes are the epitome of gentle giants,” she said.

“They glide across the plains, like liquid; awe inspiring creatures who spend their days eating leaves and caring for their young. How DARE she.”

Of course other messages of disapproval, and apparently threats as well, have been made since the revelation.

However, Ms. Talley has defended her actions by indicating that the South African subspecies of Giraffe is not rare or endangered, and has been increasing in numbers in recent years due to animal husbandry efforts that are partially funded by big game hunting. She also points out that the dark coloration of the animal is due to its advanced age.

My research concerning the darker coloration related to aging seems to support this contention. However, there is some anecdotal evidence that darker coloration may be related to genetics.

Ms. Talley's contention that the animal is not endangered is supported by a statement from a prominent expert:

“The giraffe in the photo is of the South African species Giraffa giraffe, which are not rare – they are increasing in the wild,” Julian Fennessy, Ph.D., co-founder of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation told Yahoo Lifestyle. “Legal hunting of giraffe is not a reason for their decline, despite the moral and ethical side of it which is a different story.”

Talley also went on to address how this particular buck was negatively affecting the breeding population:

She points out that the giraffe she killed was 18, too old to breed, and had killed three younger bulls who were able to breed, causing the herd’s population to decrease. Now, with the older giraffe dead, the younger bulls are able to continue to breed and can increase the population.

My research on the breeding habits of Giraffes reveals that this is only partly true. While male breeding fertility peaks between 6 and 14 years, in captivity they have been known to continue breeding up to 24 years old. On the other hand, at 18 years old, the buck was likely in the waning years of his life in the wild.

Furthermore, Giraffes perform a behavior known as "necking" to establish dominance. And while these fights may end in injury and death, it is more likely that they will end peaceably with a sort-of courtship ritual between the contestants. I assume that the winner of the duel is the top, however I can't find any information to support my theory.

We've heard about other cases similar to this in the past. American hunters journey to Africa to go on safari. They pay large fees for the privilege of legally hunting these wild animals in their natural habitats. They bag their trophy animals, take pictures, and ship their souvenirs home. Then all hell breaks loose when the public finds out about it.

While every case has to be examined on its own merits, it seems like the hunters have followed all the rules and proper conservation efforts and planning have been performed. However, the case of Cecil the Lion appears to have been an exception.

Not everyone approves of hunting animals for food and sport. And, in some cases, there are ethical and moral dilemmas that have to be addressed. However, it appears to me that Tess Thompson Talley followed all of the rules and was aware of the conservationist aspects of her hunt. Her arguments in support of her actions are logical and compelling.

As shown in a quote that I presented earlier, I think that a lot of people get caught up in the imagery of these marvelous beasts roaming in the wild. The beauty of God's creation certainly can't be denied. However there is more to the life cycle of these wild animals than is shown in such entertainment as Disney's The Lion King. And we can't always take the emotional route when we look at these real-life stories.

To be clear, I am not a hunter. For myself, I don't like the idea of killing animals. Generally I feel remorse even when I have to kill mice that have invaded my home, or when I accidentally thin the herd of vermin that run in front of my car. On the other hand, I hope that damn deer that did $500.00 dollars worth of damage to my car last week dies a horrible death. But I digress.

So, what do you, my somewhat dysfunctional ATS family, have to say about this?

-dex

I blame her personally for Toys R Us going bankrupt. She took out their CEO...

In all seriousness...people up in arms over this don't hve a better solution. And the fact remains: us in the west enjoy the relative safety of living in lands wher ehumans have already killed all the large animals that could trample our homes or eat us while sitting outside.

Africa isn't our continent. We may wax poetic about our little global zoo, but we have no right to tell them how to manage their wildlife, nor that they cannot manage the wildlife in a way that grants some form of standard of living to its people.

"Ms. Talley has defended her actions by indicating that the South African subspecies of Giraffe is not rare or endangered"

in response to which, i would ask her - ' neither are humans, would that make it ok to hunt you? '

a reply to: DexterRiley

I'm more concerned about the mentality of someone wanting to kill something defenseless just to watch it die and get a rise out of it.

would it be as satisfying if the giraffe was a robotic giraffe?
when death brings satisfaction, and to circumvent barriers to feed that satisfaction, then something is incredibly wrong with that person. a functioning psychopath.

rare black giraffe

So, what do you, my somewhat dysfunctional ATS family, have to say about this?

Big game hunting is a perverse hangover from the days of colonialism , excuses like they supply meat to poor villagers and help ailing nations economies ring hollow in the face of the lost habitat and dwindling numbers of these magnificent creatures.

The picture makes my blood boil.
Sick.

People in this day and age hunt Giraffes? What sort of a person takes any pleasure or satisfaction in that? Let alone being so pleased with herself.

originally posted by: odzeandennz
a reply to: DexterRiley

I'm more concerned about the mentality of someone wanting to kill something defenseless just to watch it die and get a rise out of it.

would it be as satisfying if the giraffe was a robotic giraffe?
when death brings satisfaction, and to circumvent barriers to feed that satisfaction, then something is incredibly wrong with that person. a functioning psychopath.

Guess you missed the part where 2000 lbs of meat went to feed local villagers? Bet they aren't sending death threats to the evil hunter who killed an animal?

If people want to threaten anyone they should threaten the South African Government for allowing hunts.

Wonder how many people who go all crazy over a human killing an animal think about the monster who killed their meat neatly packaged at the grocery store.......

My take on it is if you are going to hunt, you should plan on eating it. Hunting for sport kind of degrades the entire purpose of hunting. I could see hunting for sport if there were too many predators or prey messing up the ecosystem and they had to be culled.

Killing a giraffe isn't even a challenge or much of an accomplishment. She should've tried killing a cheetah running at top speeds if she wants to go a true no frills hunt challenge.

At least they had some sense in donating the meat...

Don't like this? Blame the gov't there that allows this type of activity. Remember Field of Dreams. If you build it they will come.

Culling the herd, yeah sure ok.
Killing the bully bull that could no longer reproduce, sure ok.
Meat for the villagers, ok good.

positioning the carcass, and posing with it while grinning....Very very weird.
It just strikes me as weird.

originally posted by: seeker1963

originally posted by: odzeandennz
a reply to: DexterRiley

I'm more concerned about the mentality of someone wanting to kill something defenseless just to watch it die and get a rise out of it.

would it be as satisfying if the giraffe was a robotic giraffe?
when death brings satisfaction, and to circumvent barriers to feed that satisfaction, then something is incredibly wrong with that person. a functioning psychopath.

Guess you missed the part where 2000 lbs of meat went to feed local villagers? Bet they aren't sending death threats to the evil hunter who killed an animal?

If people want to threaten anyone they should threaten the South African Government for allowing hunts.

Wonder how many people who go all crazy over a human killing an animal think about the monster who killed their meat neatly packaged at the grocery store.......

Pretty much this, the meat went to feed people, the money she paid to do this will help fund continued conservation efforts.


The only people up in arms over this are people that are ignorant of the process and proud of their ignorance.

originally posted by: intrepid
Don't like this? Blame the gov't there that allows this type of activity. Remember Field of Dreams. If you build it they will come.

I think most people don't really care and only the minority being the most vocal about the outrage.

a reply to: intrepid

Trophy hunting should be banned World wide if your not going to eat it don't kill it .

So, people hunt Giraffes and some people on here think that's OK? It's just sick.

originally posted by: oldcarpy
So, people hunt Giraffes and some people on here think that's OK? It's just sick.

Their country, their rules... Deal with it. Its not like you can do anything to stop something that has been happening for decades now.

originally posted by: Gargoyle91
a reply to: intrepid

Trophy hunting should be banned World wide if your not going to eat it don't kill it .

That your opinion from your perspective. Looks like that isn't from their gov't.

originally posted by: spacedoubt
Culling the herd, yeah sure ok.
Killing the bully bull that could no longer reproduce, sure ok.
Meat for the villagers, ok good.

positioning the carcass, and posing with it while grinning....Very very weird.
It just strikes me as weird.

But a fisherman holding up his catch is ok? A deer hunter posing with a buck ok? Or is it because the only exposure to giraffe westerners have is at a zoo and we personalize them like Geoffrey from Toys R Us?

a reply to: DexterRiley

"White American savage who is partly a Neanderthal[...]"


Oh my GOD that is #ing PRICELESS. Im making a motivational poster out of that.

FYI you human savages killed off my kind sooo...

Lol. In all honesty though, killing a rare Giraffe like this and gloating about it doesnt seem like the best thing in the world to do. Just sayin.

originally posted by: RoScoLaz5
"Ms. Talley has defended her actions by indicating that the South African subspecies of Giraffe is not rare or endangered"

in response to which, i would ask her - ' neither are humans, would that make it ok to hunt you? '

Ridiculous premise.....

You're made of meat...... Sooo

Would this of happened if there weren't a farcebook™ and the like? Sure, now it "exists" in Our minds and there are things that You cannot 'un-see'... So I'm going to withdraw from this and see where the 'energy' goes.


Maybe next time, She will get the long gun confused with the "Selfie Stick" and then We can type about that.. For those that can remember.. what color does Our Great White Huntress currently dye? I only ask because I don't think it is "fair" that blondes get a bad rep for stupidity...