Hunter becomes the hunted: Journalist under fire for trapping endangered hyena cubs (VIDEO)

A female hunter from Jordan has received a wave of criticism online from environmental activists and irate social media users after a video of her hunting endangered striped hyena cubs went viral.

The video in question went viral after journalist Hayam Awad, posted it to her Facebook page on Wednesday. The video has since been shared on YouTube and has been viewed over 100,000 times.

The offending video shows Awad crawling out of a hyena den in Madaba Governorate dragging two tied up cubs with her.

Sitting in front of the den, the hunter says that she is in an area called Wadi Al Usood (valley of the lions) and that she has caught the animals to prevent attacks on cattle in the area.

READ MORE: 3 lions maul 2 men to death in ferocious attack in Jordan

The Jordan Times reports Awad as saying, “So, what do you think!? Are they pretty?” one of the cubs then lets out a wail to which Awad responds “Are you challenging me?”

Some Youtube commentators expressed outrage at the hunters behaviour.

“How is this in any way acceptable?! What? Some animals were living unmolested? Can't allow that. She needs to go to jail for awhile,” reads one YouTube comment.

“Can’t you channel your thirst for equality into a kind commendable act for your society? Caring for wild animals in a conservation area of Jordan, for example,” another social media user writes.

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The video has triggered a backlash from the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) which has promised to investigate the incident.

“The law forbids such a hunting activity and deems it a crime. This cannot be a way to gain fame,” RSCN wrote in a post on Facebook.

“She has committed several infringements against the law, including disturbing an animals’ den, animal cruelty and hunting an animal that is not allowed to be possessed, sold or displayed,” Abdul Razzaq Hmoud, director of the RSCN’s Conservation and Hunting Regulation Section.

In July 2015 American dentist, Walter Palmer, received a storm of social media insults, protests outside his practice and even death threats after it was revealed that he hunted down a beloved Zimbabwean lion, Cecil.

READ MORE: The hunting of Walter Palmer: Internet goes after 'lion killer' US dentist

The nocturnal striped hyena is native to the region and is frequently mentioned in Middle Eastern literature and folklore, as being a dangerous predator and a symbol of treachery.

The animal is listed as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as the global population is estimated to be less than 10,000 mature individuals.