Two years ago, American hunter Tess Talley provoked controversy after photographs showing her posing with a slain giraffe went viral.
Now Talley has spoken out about her thoughts on hunting during an appearance on CBS This Morning, describing it as a ‘hobby’ and ‘something that I love to do’. Talley also regards her trophy hunting to be a form of ‘conservation’.
You can watch her interview for yourself below:
While appearing on the show, Talley was asked about what she thought when she looked at the photograph which had proved so divisive, to which she responded:
I see it as a hobby, I see it as something that I love to do. It’s conservation, and this hunt in particular is a conservation hunt.
Clarifying what she meant by the term ‘conservation hunt’, Talley explained:
We are preserving the wildlife. So what we do is, we are managing herds. We are managing numbers of wildlife.
We’re hunters, and we’re proud to be hunters. I am proud to hunt and I am proud of that giraffe.
One of the things which most disturbed those with anti-hunting views was the way Talley had smiled in the picture. And this was something the presenters wanted to address.
Responding to this, Talley said:
You do what you love to do. It’s joy,
If you don’t love what you do, you’re not gonna continue to do it.
Talley also addressed the sense of ‘remorse’ she feels when hunting the animals, explaining:
Everybody thinks that the easiest part is pulling the trigger, and it’s not. That’s the hardest part.
But you gain so much respect, and so much appreciation for the animal because you know what the animal is going through. They are put here for us. You know, we harvest them, we eat them.
When asked why she doesn’t just put money towards conservation rather than go out trophy hunting, Talley said:
I would rather do something I love to do rather than just give a lump sum of cash somewhere and not know particularly where that is going’.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.