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The Washington Post

On her Facebook page, 12-year-old Aryanna Gourdin is seen posing with dead animals – an impala, a giraffe, a zebra – she killed on a trip to South Africa.
The huntress is now the centre of a social media firestorm with critics calling her an “animal hater” and others calling her a child who doesn’t deserve the flak.
“It’s something that I cherish and I enjoy and I want other people to see what I’ve been able to experience,” she told ABC News’ Good Morning America recently.
Earlier this month, Aryanna and her father, Eli Gourdin, travelled from their Utah home to the African savanna, where she was pictured with a bow and pink arrows that she used to kill animals.
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It appears she documented the trip on a Facebook page called Braids and Bows, where commenters called her a “murderer” and a “sickening little witch”.
“Despicable. Absolutely disgusting,” one of them wrote. “You don’t deserve any respect. Taking for granted the greatest gift of mother nature and the universe.”
One even suggested the young girl deserved to die.
“Thats so poor. i hope that one day while she is hunting animals, just for fun, she will be killed by one of them!!!!”

After Aryanna was swept up in the tide of social media criticism, she told Good Morning America she hopes more women learn to love what she does.
“I want other women and youth to get into the hunting experiences,” she said, adding: “It’s just awesome.”
A photo that received much attention was of Aryanna with a dead zebra. The caption said: “One of my dream hunts for sure.”
A commenter responded: “I think you need to re-examine what you are learning and being taught and maybe go find yourself. Killing something should NEVER feel that good little girl.”
Amid the controversy, Aryanna posted a long rant, outlining the arguments for trophy hunting.
‘I ate elephant – it was very tasty’: Australian lawmaker risks backlash with support for big-game hunting
“Although there are flaws in the current system, (poachers posing as ethical hunters for example), trophy hunting remains the only effective way to obtain money for conservation efforts,” she wrote.
But last week, Aryanna posted an apology: “My last profile picture was very offensive to others and I have learned my lesson.”
It’s unclear, however, which photo she had used as her profile image. The next day, her father posted a photo on his Facebook page showing Aryanna kneeling down and looking solemn next to
one of her kills.
“Here is a picture of Aryanna paying her respects to the giraffe she was able to harvest in South Africa,” he wrote in the caption.


‘Despicable’: 12-year-old girl blasted online after posing with zebra and giraffe she killed

Aryanna Gourdin posing with ‘her dream hunt’, a zebra.

Facebook capture of Aryanna Gourdin poses with animals which she hunted in South Africa.

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