A trophy hunter labelled a "selfish murderer" for shooting a rare black giraffe has defended her killing of the animal.

Tess Thompson Talley, 37, posed proudly beside the animal she gunned down with a long range rifle on an expedition in South Africa.

The gentle creature was thought to be over 18-years-old and weighed 4,000lbs.

Pictures of the giraffe laying dead beside the hunter, from Kentucky, USA, appeared on Twitter on recent days.

Comedian Ricky Gervais labelled her a four-letter expletive in a post that has been shared thousands of times.

And Will and Grace actress, Debra Messing, launched a stinging attack on Ms Talley, calling her a "disgusting, vile, amoral, heartless, selfish murderer".

Talley has been slammed on social media over this picture Photo Credit : africlandpost | Twitter

But Ms Talley has insisted she was taking part in "conservation through game management".

Hitting back at critics, she told Fox News: "The numbers of this sub-species is actually increasing due, in part, to hunters and conservation efforts paid for in large part by big game hunting.

“The breed is not rare in any way other than it was very old. Giraffes get darker with age. This is called conservation through game management.”

At the time of the kill, Talley proudly boasted: "Prayers for my once in a lifetime dream hunt came true today!

"Spotted this rare black giraffe bull and stalked him for quite a while."

She is the latest in a string of American trophy hunters who have been slammed for killing wild animals.

In 2015 a Minneapolis dentist sparked uproar when he killed Cecil, a famous Zimbabwean lion.

US President Donald Trump's sons, Donald Jr and Eric, both enjoy big-game hunting, according to their father.

Pictures of them posing with animals they had killed in 2011, including a leopard, drew criticism after resurfacing in 2016.

This article originally appeared on : Mirror