12-year-old hunter girl in giraffe photo vows to never stop shooting animals

Photos of Aryanna Gourdin posing with dead animals attract a huge backlash on social media

12-year-old Aryanna Gourdin posing with a dead giraffe (Facebook)

A 12-year-old who uploaded a picture to Facebook posing next to a giraffe she killed has vowed to never stop hunting.

Aryanna Gourdin and her father, Eli Gourdin travelled from Utah to South Africa for a hunting trip, where they killed a range of animals on a safari.

Several photos of the hunt were uploaded to social media and received a huge backlash from members of the public. Some called Aryanna “sick” and others branded her “disgusting” and “evil” for posing with the dead animals, the International Business Times reported.

She responded to the comments by saying she wants others to experience what she has and nothing will stop her hunting.

"It's something I cherish and enjoy and I want other people to see what I experienced," she said in an interview with Good Morning America.

“I would never back down from hunting. I am a hunter and no matter what people say to me, I'm never going to stop,” she added.

Aryanna’s father claimed the giraffe pictured was actually a danger to the rest of the herd and had been using resources other animals need to survive.

He also claimed the meat from the hunt is being used to feed 800 orphans in the local area, the Daily Mail reported.

Chris Pitt, Deputy Director of Campaigns at the League Against Cruel Sports, told The Independent, hunters are killing because they like it and not for conservation purposes.

"The reality is, people are still shooting animals for sport, they are teaching their kids to kill animals for sport, and so the bloody baton is passed along to a new generation of people who are convinced they are in the right," he said.

“Frankly hunters don’t head off into the bush to kill a lion because they are pro-conservation.

"They do it because they like killing animals and until the rest of us consistently hammer home the message that cruel sports, like trophy hunting, dog fighting, fox hunting or bull fighting, are not acceptable in the 21st century, then we’ll continue to see sickening pictures like this.”