Rebecca Francis is under fire, after having posted a picture of herself next to a giraffe that she shot and killed five years ago while on a hunting adventure. While the picture may be slightly dated, the reality of the hatred that she is receiving for her actions is not. She is currently dealing with a lot of heat from both the public in general, as well as conservation activists, and even famous celebrities such as the comedian Ricky Gervais. He posted a response on Rebecca Francis’ Twitter feed, which asked “what happened to her that would make her want to kill a beautiful animal and then lie next to it smiling.” This comment sparked a heated debate regarding all of the aspects of big game hunting and the effects of this type of killing on the local wildlife.
Rebecca Francis’ Career
Rebecca Francis is a Utah woman and mother who has always enjoyed and loved hunting. She grew up as a part of an active hunting family, and she loved to go to the mountains for adventure with her father and brothers during hunting season. Once she had graduated high school, she pursued a degree in psychology and a second degree in dental hygiene. She and her husband have 8 children, of which she is step-mother to 5 of them. They also now have eight grandchildren and they love to spend time with their families.
Rebecca Francis has recently drawn attention to herself both through her TV show “Eye of the Hunter,” and her big game hunting expedition adventures. She has always challenged herself and has been able to accomplish some of the most extreme hunting challenges that are currently known. She has always done her hunts with legal approval and has all of the paperwork and proper documentation to prove it. Her objective with these hunts is for food and not because she has any ill will towards the animals. However, Rebecca Francis is under fire for all of her hunting actions, and has even received death threats from some people who do not believe her claims.
Conservation Discussion Regarding Big Game Hunting
There have been many hunts recently that Rebecca Francis is under fire for, as seen at Hunting Life’s website. The biggest issue at the moment is the hunt where she shot and killed a big bull giraffe and smiled next to it in the picture that was taken. This is the same picture mentioned earlier. From Rebecca Francis’ perspective, she was not doing anything wrong by hunting down this animal. When she originally set out on her African hunt, she did not have a giraffe hunt in mind. She was approached by many locals who needed food and pointed out the bull giraffe as a possible food supply. Rebecca Francis agreed to the hunt after learning that the bull giraffe had been kicked out of his herd, had nowhere to go and was already very old. She was able to hunt down the giraffe and get the local people the food that they desperately needed.
Although Rebecca Francis is under fire for now, she is hoping that one day the public will be able to understand her perspective and her true love for animals. She expressed that she smiled in the photo next to the giraffe, as she has smiled in previous hunt photos, to honor the animal, and not to show any form of hatred towards the animals.
Watch this short, inspiring film about a beautiful dog sled dog from Greenland and his amazing capabilities:
https://youtu.be/UGBqfBc6XBg
