A Texan trophy hunter who controversially posed with a rare black giraffe's body has revealed that she ate the animal and it was "delicious."

Tess Thompson Talley, 37, also said she made decorative pillow cases and a gun case from the carcass.

She shot the 4,000lb animal on a hunting trip in South Africa in 2017. When photographs were posted on social media last year she received death threats.

In a new interview with CBS News she was asked abut the giraffe and replied: "He was delicious. They are put here for us. We harvest them, we eat them. You do what you love to do. It's joy."

She showed the gun case made from the animal, adding: "This is a part of the black giraffe that I shot, something I could take around with me, and have on my hunts.

The hunting caused controversy on social media, where she posted pictures of her kills in 2018

"I also have decorative pillows made out of him, and everybody loves them."

The hunter added: "It's a hobby, it's something that I love to do, I am proud to hunt and I am proud of that giraffe."

She said her activities had been art of a conservation effort, adding: "I would rather do what I love to do, rather than just give a lump sum of cash somewhere and not know particularly where that is going."

Kitty Block, president and of the Humane Society of the United States, said the incident showed "sheer and arrogant disregard for the imperiled status of an iconic species."

She said: "Fewer than 100,000 giraffes remain in the wild in Africa, and nearly 4,000 giraffe-derived trophies were imported into the US over the last decade. More than one giraffe is killed every day."