Former Australian cricketer Glenn McGrath faced a wave of criticism after pictures of him with dead African wildlife circulated on social media.
The photographs show McGrath, who is known to enjoy hunting, crouched beside dead hyenas, buffallo and elephant tusks. The photos were found on Chipitani Safaris, a game park in Zimbabwe, but have since been removed from the website.
They appeared on Twitter on 21 February.
Legendary Australian bowler Glenn McGrath has hunting photos spilling all over social media (h/t @doctormcdougall) pic.twitter.com/RdXWlZ9gZg
— Mark Di Stefano (@MarkDiStef) February 21, 2015
Hey @glennmcgrath11. Being a cricketing legend is awesome. But hunting is stupid. You should stop. pic.twitter.com/E6MRFnvBk0 — Lindsay McDougall (@doctormcdougall) February 21, 2015
I feel sick to my stomach – Cricketer Glenn @glennmcgrath11 thinks he’s a hero slaughtering animals for fun & TUSKS! pic.twitter.com/h7KF1K7xTi
— Angela ♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥ (@sallie6youtube) February 21, 2015
McGrath said that he deeply regrets shooting African animals.
Please see my response below pic.twitter.com/GnnrSoPxzY — Glenn McGrath (@glennmcgrath11) February 21, 2015
But most thought that the apology was not enough.
“Extremely difficult time” vs “I’m keen to get into trophy hunting…” #justsayin #GlennMcGrath pic.twitter.com/n1nHe8oIU6
— Lyndsay Farlow (@LyndsayFarlow) February 21, 2015
I can’t count the number of times I’ve been in difficult circumstances and thought, “I know, I’ll shoot an elephant.” #glennmcgrath — Team Oz Mate (@bebutch) February 21, 2015
Pretty sure that the recommended treatment for grief, depression and loss does not include killing defenceless animals. #GlennMcGrath
— Think Big (@Thought4rce) February 21, 2015
Twitter Outrage Graph #GlennMcGrath pic.twitter.com/4cgIWGvUPm — Alison Fairleigh (@AlisonFairleigh) February 21, 2015
Elephants bury & mourn their dead, shed tears and live in complex groups. It’s never OK to kill one especially for “sport”. #glennmcgrath
— jen brennen (@zen_jen) February 21, 2015