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Ricky Gervais Goes In On A Giraffe Hunter

Ricky Gervais Goes In On A Giraffe Hunter

And rightly so...

Michael Minay

Michael Minay

Ricky Gervais is comedy marmite - you either get his humour or you don't. He's a talented writer, let's face it; The Office was a superb hit, and he's just about to embark on a world tour.

But away from the funny guy routine, he's also a big animal rights activist. The Reading-born comedian has already previously stated that he'll leave his fortune to animal charities and he can be seen on various campaign videos to stop animal cruelty.

Today, he launched a sarcastic response to a hunter who seemed to 'celebrate' the killing of a giraffe in its natural surroundings.

"Yay! I shot a stationary, 14 foot herbivore, with a high velocity rifle for fun!" he wrote on Facebook this afternoon.

It's a direct attack on the gunman with several references to how harmless the giraffe was. Firstly, the word 'stationary' implies that the giraffe was a) an easy target and b) not posing any danger to the man with the weapon.

Secondly: 'herbivore'. Giraffes are plant-eaters, they do not eat humans. Ricky effectively asks the question: why kill it, if it had no intention of killing you?

And finally, the description of the rifle implies it was unnecessary to use such brute force against a peaceful figure.

The post already has generated over 43,000 reactions on Facebook, 2,250 shares and upwards of 8,000 comments.


Ricky has previously spoken to senior world figures on animal cruelty, including writing to the UK's then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown about the fur worn by foot guards.

He has received much recognition for his work, including the prestigious Lord Houghton Award, earlier this year, for Service To Animal Welfare from Animal Defenders International.

Ricky's big areas of discussion surround fox hunting and bullfighting.

Credit: Big Think / YouTube

Whereas the comedian attempts to talk about the controversy in animal rights (namely killing, testing and cruelty), he himself is not far from being the subject of scrutiny.

Recently he was attacked by parents after including a joke about dead babies at a gig in Belfast. One woman and her husband walked out of his Humanity tour following the line.

Suzi Gourley told Belfast Live: "I know people take things differently and I know our emotions are raw, but why joke about a baby being dead? It's just wrong."

Ricky took to Twitter to defend himself.

He also shared his own quote that read: "I see offence as the collateral damage of free speech. I hate the thought of a person's ideas being modified or even hushed because someone somewhere might not like to hear them."

A delicate fine balance between what is right and wrong, with the boundary very much blurred.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Animal Cruelty, Ricky Gervais