This is such sensationalist crap it makes my blood boil!
I hunt and shoot here in the UK, and while I personally would not want to kill a giraffe / lion / buffalo I will defend this womans right to do so as long as the manner in which it is done is humane and is done with conservation in mind.
The people who are frothing at the mouth over this (and similar) pictures know absolutely NOTHING about hunting, conservation or the circumstances behind each of these photos.
The giraffe in the photo of Rebecca which has sparked this thread was actually an elderly bull (male) well past his prime. He had been kicked out of the herd by the new 'alpha male' a younger, stronger bull and now faced a year or so of slow (probably painful) decline and eventual death. Away from the safety of the herd an elderly male like this would have been chased away from the good grazing and would not have been able to procure enough food, he would have grown weak and eventually have either starved or fallen prey to a predator.
Rebecca Francis paid a lot of money for her 'big game' hunt, a large proportion of which will have gone back into conservation in the local area where the giraffe was hunted.
The giraffe was selected as an appropriate 'cull' animal and killing it as she did most certainly only accelerated it's death by a year or so, saving it from a great deal of suffering in the meantime. Had the animal died naturally the carcass would have rotted away or been taken by scavengers but as it was culled, the meat was able to be shared out among local villagers who are among the poorest people in the world! The fur and bones were used to make textiles / tools etc and nothing was wasted.
THINK BEFORE YOU CRITICISE !