What must’ve happened to you in your life to make you want to kill a beautiful animal & then lie next to it smiling? pic.twitter.com/DyYw1T5ck2

— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) April 13, 2015

For comedy fans, all over the world, Ricky Gervais will always be associated with “chilled out entertainer”, boss-man-from-hell character, David Brent. In recent years, however, Ricky has become increasingly vocal on social media regarding issues of animal rights.

On Monday morning, Gervais slammed hunter Rebecca Francis on Twitter for posing with a dying giraffe in a photograph from 2010.

Many of Ricky’s 7.5 million followers responded angrily to the image, citing Francis as a “heinously ugly” individual who “sums up human immorality.”

One angry Twitter user, who goes by the name MistaHippyDalek (@DirtyHippyDalek), took things to the extreme:

@rickygervais May that horrible woman die a lonely, painful death.

— MistaHippyDalek (@DirtyHippyDalek) April 13, 2015

In response to the outrage Francis, who won reality TV show Extreme Huntress in 2010, tried to defend her actions with the following statement:

“When I was in Africa five years ago I was of the mindset that I would never shoot a giraffe. I was approached toward the end of my hunt with a unique circumstance.

They showed me this beautiful old bull giraffe that was wandering all alone. He had been kicked out of the herd by a younger and stronger bull. He was past his breeding years and very close to death.

They asked me if I would preserve this giraffe by providing all the locals with food and other means of survival. He was inevitably going to die soon and he could either be wasted or utilized by the local people.

I chose to honor his life by providing others with his uses and I do not regret it for one second. Once he was down there were people waiting to take his meat.

They also took his tail to make jewelry, his bones to make other things, and did not waste a single part of him. I am grateful to be a part of something so good.”

The problem for Francis, and anyone who tries to defend her behaviour, is that the giraffe picture isn’t the only time she’s been photographed posing inappropriately with the animals she’s hunted.

This photo (see below) of her grinning triumphantly over a dead bear, is just one of many images that critics can use against her.

We don’t condone death threats, or any other form of internet trolling at Mpora, but we do think that Francis needs to take a long, hard, look in the mirror. Whatever your views on hunting, as a sport, we believe it’s important to treat animals with dignity and respect.

Smiling like you’re on a fun night out, next to the remains of an animal you’ve just killed, is the definition of ‘poor taste’.

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