Giraffes were classified as "vulnerable" in 2016 by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which manages the list of endangered species worldwide. The number of giraffes in sub-Saharan Africa has dropped by nearly 40 percent since 1985, according to the organization.
Talley is not the first American who has come under fire for big game hunting. In 2015 a Minneapolis dentist prompted fury for killing Cecil, a famous Zimbabwean lion.
US President Donald Trump's sons Donald Jr. and Eric both enjoy big-game hunting, according to their father. Pictures of them posing with animals they had killed in 2011, including a leopard, drew criticism after resurfacing in 2016.
In March, the US Fish and Wildlife Service allowed for some big game trophies to be imported from Africa on a case-by-case basis, reversing a ban initiated under Trump's predecessor President Barack Obama.
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