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A wild goat Galloway. (IStock)
Lindsey Bever
Generalist journalist covering national and last-minute news
A photo shows Larysa Switlyk looking from behind a pair of woods belonging to a dead Scottish royal deer.
Other pictures show her posing behind a ram and a wild goat.
Then there's a close-up of his dinner – fresh meat from the American hunt in the Scottish Highlands. "Nothing better than enjoying what you're chasing !!", she writes online, adding, "#eatwhatyoukill."
Switlyk, who runs a hunting and fishing show for Wild TV, has recently posted numerous photos on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, showing her traveling – and hunt – on the island of Islay. in Scotland.
These images, of a hunter and his prey, sparked an uproar in Scotland and on social networks, where Switlyk was described as "cowardly" and "disgraceful" – and worse.
"YOU ARE NOT WELCOME TO SCOTLAND," wrote one person.
Hunting is legal in the United Kingdom. Yet in the midst of an increasingly fierce reaction on Switlyk's photos, Scottish lawmakers m said they can re-examine the country's hunting laws. Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Wednesday that the government "will review the current situation and determine if it is necessary to amend the law".
Switlyk could not be reached for comment. But as the reaction continued, she posted another photo on Wednesday night, showing it with a bush plane in the background.
She said that she was embarking on her next "hunting adventure" and that she would be without the Internet or cell phone.
"There's nothing better than disconnecting from this world of social media and reconnecting with nature," she wrote. "I hope this will leave enough time for all the ignorant people who send me death threats to learn about hunting and conservation."
[A mother bear and two ‘shrieking’ newborn cubs were killed in their den by hunters, troopers say]
Switlyk said earlier on Instagram that she was in Scotland more than a month ago.
It was only a few weeks after the trip, when she started posting the photos, that the kickback began.
The first photo was posted on October 10 and shows outside the Mingary Castle in Kilchoan. "You feel like kings staying at Mingary Castle and looking for red deer with the telescope @nightforce_optics," she wrote.
Then came the picture of the royal deer killed.
The comments began pouring in: "HONEY, YOUR DEF IS NOT THE ROYALITY", "Enter America", and more.
"You are a strange person," wrote one person. "Where is the challenge of shooting helpless goats and taking pictures with them as if you were cool. Honestly, it looks like a waste life. "
Critics argued that it was shameful to present dead animals as trophies and several people described Switlyk as "cowardly" for killing animals with a rifle.
"It's one thing to actually hunt an animal with a bow and arrow (and I'm not talking compound) because it requires a lot of skill," wrote one person on his Instagram account. "Using a firearm is a cowardly and unqualified way to attack an unsuspecting creature. To parade his corpse is more than nauseating. Think about your actions. Clearly, you have no respect for life.
Judy Murray, a Scottish tennis coach – whose adult sons, Andy and Jamie Murray – are British tennis stars – called on the government to stop such incidents.
Sarah Moyes of the Scottish OneKind Animal Protection Organization told ITV News that the images were "totally shocking".
"Once again, instead of celebrating the beautiful Scottish fauna, we see these beautiful animals exploited in the name of sport," she said. "This is not the type of tourism that we should encourage in Scotland, let alone in the 21st century."
In the United Kingdom, hunting and killing wild animals is legal. The law states that it is illegal to hunt certain animals in certain situations, for example by using a pack of dogs or causing "unnecessary suffering to an animal," according to the government website.
Roseanna Cunningham, secretary of the cabinet responsible for the environment, climate change and land reform in Scotland, said the government would look into the issue.
"We fully understand why so many people find these images of animals hunted as upsetting trophies," she said in a statement on Twitter. "Responsible and appropriate slaughter of animals is a necessary part of sustainable land management and the slaughter of certain wildlife, including deer and goats, is not illegal. However, we understand the concerns raised by these images and, in light of these, the Secretary of the Environment will review the situation and determine whether clarification or amendments to the law may be necessary.
Big game hunting and, of course, illegal hunting have also sparked controversy in other countries.
The most notable incident is perhaps that of 2015, when the American dentist Walter Palmer hunted down and killed the beloved Cecil, the African lion.
More recently, in August, a man and his teenage son were charged with illegal hunting after killing a black bear in his den in Alaska, and then slaughtering his young.
Read more:
The villagers thought they had killed a supernatural metamorph. It was an endangered Sumatran tiger.
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