Disturbing rise of the female big game hunters who kill for thrills
Comedian Ricky Gervais must have been accused of a lot of things in his time but giving a woman he’s never met pneumonia is probably a first.
The woman is american hunt enthusiast Rebecca Francis who appeared in last night’s The Women
Who Kill Lions (Channel 4). When she posted a picture of herself smiling alongside the body of the giraffe she had just slaughtered, Gervais retweeted the photograph to his 11 million followers questioning why she would do such a thing.
it resulted in death threats and hate mail, mostly from the UK, the stress of which, according to Rebecca, caused her to succumb to pneumonia.
She was one of two women featured in the documentary about the growing number of female hunters who kill for the thrill of it — and the social media fame.
Rebecca’s Wyoming home was crammed full of the mounted heads of the magnificent beasts she’d shot, there was even a giant, stuffed grizzly bear in the corner.
a trip to mozambique is to be her next adventure, where she hopes to kill rhinoceros.
The camera crew followed her as she hunted a black-tailed deer with a crossbow. Watching her euphoria as she struck the beautiful creature was as hard to watch as the kill itself.
Listening to Rebecca try to justify her hateful hobby would be comedic if it wasn’t so disturbing. She claimed to be an animal lover and a conservationist. She even suggested that killing the giraffe was an act of kindness as the local tribespeople were able to eat the meat and she’d saved it from a painful death by an animal predator.
as sickening as Rebecca’s actions were, she somehow wasn’t as bad as Jacine Jadresko, a Croatian-born businesswoman who had killed a lion, paying £12,000 for the privilege, and loved every minute of it.
Jacine has killed animals from 20 species in three years, ranging from buffalo to bears and hoped that an elephant would provide her next trophy and photo opportunity.
When asked if she could hit it with a tranquillising dart instead of a bullet she replied: ‘i could. But i’m not going to.’
With a cabinet full of guns at her Canadian home, Jacine had already introduced her ten-year- old son diesel to game hunting.
The online abuse she suffered didn’t seem to bother her, whereas Rebecca pulled out of filming after pop star miley Cyrus also attacked her on Twitter. You’d like to think the irony of feeling trapped and targeted wouldn’t be lost on Rebecca, but you’d be wrong.
Coming a year after Cecil the Lion was slain by an american dentist, the documentary was an important — albeit horrifyingly brutal — one. Luckily, Britain’s Favourite Dogs (iTV) redressed the balance as it counted down the nation’s top ten breeds.
our busy lives mean that very large dogs are becoming less popular in favour of smaller breeds such as Yorkshire Terriers and Jack Russells. old english Sheepdogs are now so rare that they are considered a vulnerable breed by the Kennel Club. one hundred years ago the Fox Terrier was the most widely kept dog in the country, today it’s the Labrador — a breed that was also voted the most loyal in iTV’s survey.
more than 500,000 Labradors are kept as pets, including derby the assistance dog owned by Jo Hill.
Ten years ago Jo was crushed between two cars and left wheelchair bound as a result of her injuries. With four children she struggled to cope at home. Then along came derby the wonder dog, who helps Jo around the home with everything from unloading the washing machine to stripping beds.
Before derby she didn’t have the confidence to leave the house alone. Today, with derby walking beside her wheelchair, she no longer has that fear.
no wonder Jo said: ‘He gave me my life back.’
The one-off programme featured endless footage of energetic hounds running in slow motion, as well as lingering shots of adorable mutts with big, brown eyes.
Watching how much difference dogs can make to the lives of people of all ages was incredibly touching to see, not to mention the perfect antidote to the lion-killing louts.
Christopher stevens is away.