An American hunter who received death threats after posing for a picture with a giraffe she killed in South Africa, has defended her “trophy kill”.

Tessa Thompson Talley presents as a divisive figure on social media, drawing a mixture of hatred and unwavering support from both sides of the hunting debate.

But two years after she shot dead a rare black giraffe on a legal hunt in 2017, Talley reiterated her stance on the matter, telling CBS “he was delicious”.

"Not only was he beautiful and majestic, but he was good,” she told the network.

Chevron Right Icon 'He was delicious.'

"The pictures are a tradition that hunters have done long before social media. When social media came around, that’s when there was an issue, that’s when people started backlashing and they had a platform."

She also revealed that she had made a gun case and "decorative pillows" out of the carcass.

Tally also had a gun case made out of the giraffe. Credit: CBS

"This is a part of the black giraffe that I shot - black due to old age - something that I can take around with me and have him with me on all of my hunts.

“I got the gun case made and I had decorative pillows made out of him and everybody loves them.”

In her original Instagram post, Talley said her kill was more than 18 years old and weighed more than 1800kg.

When it went viral, the abuse come flooding in – and Talley admits, she was surprised about the negative feedback towards her “hobby”.

"It got really bad. I received mails at my house, they’re spreading out addresses where they think I may be, they were showing up at my work, they’re calling my employer, trying to get me fired,” she added.

"You do what you love to do. It’s joy, if you don’t enjoy it you’re not going to continue to do it."