US killer queen in cross hairs

A US television presenter prompted outrage this week after boasting online that she had killed a lion in South Africa.

Melissa Bachman, a keen hunter who produces programmes on the American outdoors, posted a photograph on Facebook and Twitter of herself holding a rifle and smiling beside the carcass of a male lion.

"Incredible day in South Africa," the self-styled "hardcore huntress" said of her pursuits at the Maroi Conservancy in Limpopo, adding: "Stalked inside 60 yards [54m] on this beautiful male lion - what a hunt!"

Maroi is situated in the Limpopo Valley and caters for the hunting of wild animals on 8500ha.

Lourens Mostert, the game farm manager at the conservancy where the hunt took place, said: "If it isn't right to hunt these lions, why does our government legally give us permission?"

But the furious online reaction led Bachman to deactivate her Facebook and Twitter pages within hours. It also prompted an online petition asking the South African government to bar her from returning.

"She is an absolute contradiction to the culture of conservation this country prides itself on," said Elan Burman of Cape Town, the author of the petition, which quickly gathered 3000 signatures.

"You, lady, are what is wrong with the world," said Richard Robinson of Maryland in the US, who was among the signatories. "Take with no consequences. Shoot, kill, consume, destroy.

"You didn't kill a lion, you stood behind a machine and pulled a little trigger, you pathetic, sad excuse of a human."

Although African lions are rated "vulnerable" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List, they are not officially endangered and hunting them is legal in a number of countries, including South Africa. "The main threats to lions are indiscriminate killing," said the organisation.

The photograph was in keeping with Bachman's past activities. Her website displays pictures of her posing beside dead alligators, turkeys and bears, among other quarry.

She was axed as a contestant on the National Geographic programme Ultimate Survival Alaska last year after 13000 people signed a petition protesting against the inclusion of a "heartless trophy hunter".

Bachman could not be contacted for comment.

A recent study led by a scientist from Duke University in the US shows that as few as 32000 lions are left in the wild, which makes hunting a controversial issue, particularly in Africa. Supporters say that it brings in money to local communities and can help to reduce illegal poaching, but critics say it is a cruel practice that brings in little revenue to local people. Last year, Botswana banned all commercial hunting of wild animals and Zambia outlawed all hunting of lions and leopards from January.

"Tourists come to Zambia to see the lion, and if we lose the lion we will be killing our tourism industry," said Tourism Minister Sylvia Masebo.