Sabrina Corgatelli's Host In New Zealand Receives Death Threats For Accommodating American Huntress: Report

The owner of a New Zealand trophy-hunting business is reportedly receiving death threats after announcing plans to host Sabrina Corgatelli, an American woman who drew international condemnation after posting photos Friday of herself alongside a dead giraffe that she hunted. Corgatelli defended her actions saying that giraffes were “very dangerous” animals.

Richard Burdon, who owns Glen Dene Hunting and Fishing at Lake Hawea in Otago, South Island, said he and one of his agents in the U.S. received death threats for hosting Corgatelli during the hunting season next April, One News, a division of Television New Zealand, reported Wednesday.

Burdon said that there has been an “aggressive" social media campaign from "two angry groups of people” over trophy hunting.

“These people are out there aggressively using social media, it's not about hunting, or ethical hunting ... I can't even repeat what some of the people have been saying,” he told One News.

He noted that, in New Zealand, hunters have to follow all the ethical standards associated with animal welfare. Burdon also said that he was looking forward to hosting Corgatelli, without divulging more details of her visit.

Mike Martineau, an American who operates a hunting blog called Rack Em Up is also expected to be on the hunting trip along with Corgatelli, according to One News.

In a June post on her Facebook page, Corgatelli wrote about her upcoming hunting trip to New Zealand, saying: "Spots are filling up fast on this Stag hunt in New Zealand. Please message me for details, and come have a fun week of hunting with me! Getting really excited over this trip!!”

Corgatelli, an Idaho State University accountant, garnered attention after she posted photos on her Facebook page of her hunts following the killing of Cecil, a protected lion in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, last month by American dentist Walter Palmer.

According to her Instagram account, Corgatelli has killed a giraffe, an impala, a kudu, a warthog and a wildebeest.

“Everybody just thinks we're cold-hearted killers, and it's not that. There is a connection with the animal, and just because we hunt them doesn't mean we don't have a respect for them. Giraffes are very dangerous animals. They could hurt you seriously very quickly,” Cargotelli told NBC’s Today show Monday.