A big game hunter is the target of a hate campaign after a photo of her posing with a “record” leopard kill went viral. Anonymous posters and multiple celebrities have slammed ‘Britany’ on social media for her “disgusting” act.
The photo of the woman, who has been referred to only as ‘Britany L,’ was shared with Safari Club International (SCI) earlier this month. SCI is a US-based organization that protects hunters’ rights while still promoting wildlife conservation. The image has sparked global outrage, with SCI claiming in a blog post that Britany L’s slain male big cat could be the ninth largest leopard ever hunted.
The photo went viral after David Bonnouvrier – co-founder of Knot on my Planet, an organization working to stop elephant poaching for the ivory trade – shared the picture on Instagram. “A very large male Leopard recently killed by Britany L. [who is a] member of the safari club international based in Tucson AZ,” Bonnouvrier said, before calling on social media to “find this b***h” and to “call [SCI] and give them a piece of your mind.”
Bonnouvrier’s photo quickly spread across social media like wildfire – with big-name celebrities such as Naomi Campbell, Dutch supermodel Doutzen Kroes and Kyle Richards piping up to voice their disapproval at Britany L’s pastime.
“How can you find pride and pleasure in killing a beautiful animal like this large male Leopard. The woman in the picture should be ashamed of herself! I find this disgusting and I’m so upset, sad and angry that this still happens!!” Kroes wrote, with Richards chiming in to add “I know this is upsetting to see but if we don’t speak up this will never stop.”
South African Wildlife artist Sue Dickinson has dubbed Britany L a“cretin,” with clandestine activist group Anonymous echoing Dickinson’s sentiments.
Britany L is the latest grinning killer to be publicly shamed online for taking part in game hunting. In July, photos of American hunter Tess Thompson Talley posing next to a giraffe that she had killed in South Africa, sparked outrage.
“White american savage who is partly a neanderthal comes to Africa and shoot down a very rare black giraffe courtesy of South Africa stupidity,” Twitter account Africa Digest said, sharing images of Talley and calling on its followers to share. The post was retweeted more than 48,500 times and was liked nearly 30,000 times, with thousands more expressing their rage at her victory-style photos in the comments.
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