12-year-old girl faces online backlash for hunting photos

ABCNews logo
Thursday, August 18, 2016
VIDEO: Controversy surrounding young "big game" hunter
One 12-year-old "Big Game" hunter from Utah is stirring up some incredibly strong opinions on social media.

A 12-year-old girl sparked an online firestorm when she posted photos of herself online posing with a giraffe and a zebra that she killed while hunting with her dad.

Aryanna Gourdin's Facebook page is called "Braids and Bows" and not the kind you put in your hair.

The 12-year-old from Utah says she's been getting death threats from her now viral posts.

Aryanna and her father, Eli, took a trip to South Africa last week.

There have been more than 80,000 comments on the photo she posted showing her posing with a dead zebra, where she writes: "One of my dream hunts for sure."

"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."

The father and daughter have been on a number of trips in the past five years, but it was the photos posted to Facebook from their most recent hunt that quickly made her a topic of heated discussion.

Some commenters are calling her "sick" and an "animal hater," while supporters posted encouraging messages, including "Let the haters hate! Hunt away Aryanna."

Aryanna says, "They love animals and we love animals, and we also love hunting."

Her father tells ABC News, "I don't tell anyone else how to raise their kids."

Eli also says that they are proud to be hunters and will never apologize for it.

They donate all of the money from Aryanna's hunts to conservation efforts.

Read the full report on ABC News.

Report a Typo