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Note the title is from the article and I do not agree with its sensationalism at all.

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Extreme hunter blames Ricky Gervais for death threats

Rebecca poses with a dead lion
Extreme hunter Rebecca Francis says she blames Ricky Gervais for thousands of death threats she's received.
The comedian's been attacking the trophy hunter on social media all week - with many of his posts being shared thousands of times.

"Ricky Gervais has used his power and influence to specifically target women in the hunting industry and has sparked thousands of people to call for my death, the death of my family and many other women who hunt", Rebecca told Newsbeat.

"This has evolved into an issue about the morality of threatening human lives over disagreeing with someone else's beliefs.

"It shocks me that people who claim to be so loving and caring for animals can turn around and threaten to murder and rape my children. "

Trophy hunting is a popular 'sport' and tourists pay thousands of pounds to kill animals like lions, bears, zebra and elephants.

On her blog Rebecca speaks of her desire to hunt Africa's 'Big Five' - lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo.
In South Africa trophy hunting is legal and animals are bred for tourists to kill them in special parks. The animals are often hand-reared and bottle fed, so don't fear people. It means when they approach people expecting to get fed, they receive a bullet instead.

Last year, 5,000 lions were bred for this purpose.

It brings in big money to the economy, as tourists from the US, China and the UK pay huge amounts of money to shoot them. At the moment there are no laws banning these 'trophies' returned into the European Union.

Rebecca, who won the reality TV show Extreme Huntress in 2010, told Newsbeat, "There is no question that hunters contribute the most to the welfare of wildlife.

"I believe in the right to hunt. I believe that hunters promote wildlife more than any other source."

But animal rights charities disagree. Dominic Dyer from Born Free told Newsbeat "The conservation case for trophy hunting does not stand up to scrutiny.

"Studies have shown that trophy hunting can often hurt the overall population of a species, the money generated does not help local communities or conservation efforts and it can also lead to an increase in illegal wildlife poaching.
"The wild lion population in Africa has fallen from around 80,000 in 1980 to less than 25,000 today as a direct result of hunting, habitat loss and conflict with humans."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/32349098/extreme-hunter-blames-ricky-gervais-for-death-threats

Edited by NitroX (18/04/15 06:46 PM)

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