SA woman kills giraffe, poses with its heart in gruesome photo

Warning: The following story contains imagery that may upset sensitive viewers

A 32-year-old South African woman has come under fire for posing with her gruesome Valentine’s Day gift and showing it off on social media.

Merelize van der Merwe made international headlines after she took to her public Facebook page to brag about killing a giraffe on a Valentine’s Day hunting trip.

After taking the animal apart, Van der Merwe posed with its heart, uploaded the images and captioned the post: “Ever wondered how big a giraffe’s heart is? I’m absolutely over the moon with my BIG Valentines present!!!”

Merelize van der Merwe posing with the heart of the giraffe she hunted and killed for Valentine’s Day in a reserve not far from Sun City. Picture: Facebook

This comes a day after posting a highlight reel to her audience of over 98,000 Facebook followers showing the hunt, where she can be seen unloading one more shot into the dying giraffe as it lay on the ground after being hit in the neck by her initial shot.

Backlash

Her post drew thousands of comments, mainly from detractors, who asked what she had to gain from such a brutal act.

According to The Mirror, Van der Merwe reportedly made the claim that killing the ageing bull giraffe helped save its species, which is threatened in South Africa.

“What did the poor giraffe do to deserve this? Y’all are not different from serial killers. you find joy and satisfaction in hunting and killing innocent animals and serial killers find joy and satisfaction in killing innocent people,” commented Hosia Mahlatsi.

“Just why? It’s obvious you’ve got cash to throw around…if you care so much about the conservation of these animals, why not just make a huge donation?!?” asked Jennifer Dzikowski.

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“How ‘hunters’ get applauded 4 shooting such a majestic animal just 4 attention from other ‘hunters’ on social media. Ridiculous.People have really lost all sense of dignity, seriously. No pride what so ever in shooting such a beautiful animal 4 no valid reason [like being hurt]… Shame on u girl,” [sic] commented Michelle Booysen.

‘Life-long dream’

In a separate post, Van der Merwe explained that hunting a giraffe had been her life-long dream as a trophy hunter.

She recounted how she once came close to realising this dream but had the opportunity snatched from her by a friend.

According to Van der Merwe, having her husband spend close to R30,000 to organise this opportunity for Valentine’s Day was a romantic gesture.

“My husband booked a trip for us to the palace of the lost city situated in Sun City for our Valentine’s weekend, but our plans changed quickly. My wonderful husband knew this was my dream and fully supported me from a romantic five-star weekend away to roughing it again in the heat and bush.”

“I was literally like a little child for two weeks and counted down the days. Afterwards I was flooded with emotions as I’ve been waiting years to have this opportunity!!”

She has proudly declared that she will be using the giraffe’s skin as a rug, which will be displayed in her home.

In addition to celebrating every time she was featured in an international publication and posting memes justifying her penchant for killing animals, Van der Merwe has dug her heels in about her love for hunting.

“I ain’t scared of sh** especially animal rights activists who still lives with mommy because they get triggered by everything so they go to the supermarket and buy their meat because no animal gets hurt there!!!”

“I’ve been hearing the same old mob stories for years and yet I’m still here and still hunting.”

She even goes as far as taunting people who are offended by the gruesome things she regularly posts and advocates for.

“While I make headlines across the globe, thought I’ll take a second to have a beer and enjoy our game farm.

“I hope that I can at least claim some profit from all the Kleenex used this week for all the emotionally unstable people out there,” said Van der Merwe this week.

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