Anger as TV presenter poses with dead goats in Scotland hunt

Larysa Switlyk suggested she shot one of the goats and her friend Jason killed the other animals on the picturesque island of Islay in the Inner Hebrides.

The huntress, who hosts her own show Larysa Unleashed in the US, posted an image on Twitter of her fellow hunter posing with one of his kills.

She wrote in the post: “Congrats on Jason on his gold medal (sic).

“A unique hunt.”

Judy Murray, the mother of tennis star Andy, who is from Scotland, replied: “A unique hunt? Disgraceful.

“It’s a goat. And it’s in Scotland, on a beautiful island.

“Stop this please @scotgov.”

In another image Ms Switlyk was crouched down next to a goat she apparently killed, and wrote: “Beautiful wild goat here… Such a fun hunt!

“They live on the edge of cliffs of the island and know how to hide well (sic).”

She added: “We hunted hard for a big one for 2 days and finally got on this group. Made a perfect 200 yard shot and dropped him.”

The tweet attracted more than 5,000 comments by Wednesday afternoon, with many social media users expressing their disgust with the image.

Twitter user Mererid wrote: “This is truly dreadful!

“Get her back to America! Pure Evil!!”

Nuala Bugeye wrote: “I can’t imagine how inadequate one must be to kill and then be photographed with their ‘trophy’ goat.”

Ms Switlyk, who is described as a “world renowned hunter” on her website, also shared a photo of herself with her hunting partner next to a dead stag.

She wrote: “Proud of Jason and his 2nd montrous Red Stag here in Scotland… talk about Gold Medal Status.”

Twitter user Siobhan Thompson replied: “Stay away from our wildlife.

“You’re not wanted here or any of your kind.”

After the images surfaced, Argyll and Bute MSP Mike Russell said he would be raising the issue with the environment secretary Roseanna Cunningham.

He tweeted: “As the local member of @ScotParl I am raising this as a matter of urgency with @strathearnrose – if this is actually happening on #Islay, and laid on by some sort of tour company I would want to see it stopped immediately.”

Sarah Moyes, activist for OneKind which campaigns against animal cruelty, said: “It’s utterly shocking to see these images of Larysa Switlyk and other hunters posing for photos with the wild animals they killed on a recent trip to Scotland.

“Yet again, instead of celebrating Scotland’s magnificent wildlife, we are seeing these beautiful animals exploited in the name of sport.

“This is not the kind of tourism we should be encouraging in Scotland, let alone allowing to happen in the 21st century.”