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A hunter who sparked outrage by killing a giraffe has said she ate the animal and it was "delicious".

Tess Talley went viral in 2018, sparking fury from celebrities including comedian Ricky Gervais, with an image of her next to the dead giraffe which she shot.

She has now revealed she dined on the animal and has made pillows as well as a gun case from its carcass.

Describing eating it, she told CBS: “He was delicious.

“Not only was he beautiful and majestic but he was good."

In an interview discussing her hunting, Ms Talley continued: “It's a hobby, it's something that I love to do.”

Ms Talley claimed the animal, which was in South Africa, was killed as part of a “conservation hunt” aimed at managing the wildlife in an area.

She claimed she would not just kill animals “just to be knocking them down”, insisting she aids conservation.

In 2018 images were shared by animal rights groups on Twitter and Facebook showed Ms Talley posing with the animal in a photo from 2017.

“Prayers for my once in a lifetime dream hunt came true today! Spotted this rare black giraffe bull and stalked him for quite awhile (sic),” Talley wrote in a since-deleted post on Facebook, according to USA Today.

The post said the animal was more than 18 years old, weighed 4,000 lbs and yielded 2,000 lbs of meat.

On average, giraffes have a 25-year lifespan, according to National Geographic.

At the time, actor Gervais, who often posts about animal conservation issues wrote on Twitter: “What's 16 feet tall and has a c*** on the back of its neck?”

The latest comments from her have also cause dupset, with some branding her a "gross person" and stating it was "sickening".