Fierce backlash met 12-year-old Aryanna Gourdin head on when she posted to Facebook photos of a giraffe she had killed in Africa:
While there were typical comments about how people were disgusted, some of the other reactions were downright vicious:
Image Credit: Facebook/Screenshot
Image Credit: Facebook/Screenshot
Image Credit: Facebook/Screenshot
Image Credit: Facebook/Screenshot
In response, the Utah native wrote a fact-backed rebuttal.
It reads, in part:
Although people may find it hard to believe, especially due to recent events, the hunting of endangered species is actually one of the only things helping them today. Controversy in the media has sparked a discussion that wasn’t happening mere months ago; about whether or not trophy hunting is good for endangered species.
Although there are flaws in the current system, (poachers posing as ethical hunters for example), trophy hunting remains the only effective way to obtain money for conservation efforts.
In order to hunt an animal such as the African white Rhinoceros (only 5 of which are able to be legally hunted a year), permits are sold for as high as $350,000. (Allen, 2015)
What people don’t realize, is that much of this money goes towards conservation efforts. (In fact, according to a 2006 study, out of 150 trophy hunters interviewed, 86% stated they preferred hunting in an area where they know their money goes towards conservation efforts.) (Goldman, 2014)
The reason people don’t believe trophy hunting is good for endangered species is simple: too much poor media focus is being put on the few animals legally killed, and not the hundreds illegally poached each year.
She followed up during an interview with “Good Morning America.”
In the interview, Gourdin said she isn’t going to “stop hunting” and that she loves it.
Gourdin’s father also revealed that the giraffe was a problem animal and that the animal meat was donated to a village that will feed 800 local orphans.
The post A 12-Year-Old Posted Pictures from Her Giraffe ‘Kill’ and Of Course The Internet Lost Its Mind appeared first on Independent Journal Review.
Source: independent journal
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