Warning: This article contains details that may disturb some people.
A Kiwi mum has defended her passion for hunting following an onslaught of death threats and hateful comments on social media, criticising her choice to involve her children in the hobby.
Wanaka mum-of-three Lucy Jaine has a sizeable audience on social media, where she documents her life in central Otago and her frequent hunting trips for almost 4000 followers.
The 29-year-old says she received an influx of hateful messages on Instagram following an interview with the Daily Mail about her lifestyle, published on Friday.
"I've received death threats, comments saying I shouldn't have children, that I should be skinned like a pig, comments in languages I don't understand, vomiting emojis..." she told Newshub.
"I think it's mainly criticism from non-hunters who find hunting quite shocking."
The hunting enthusiast has spoken out in defence of her lifestyle choice, saying the hobby is her preferred way of feeding her family.
"We hunt to feed our family. It's sustainable, it's organic, free-range. The animals have had a good life," says Jaine.
"I like teaching my kids how they can hunt their own organic meat... I'm not against people buying it from the supermarket, but when you hunt you know exactly where your meat has come from."
The 29-year-old believes hunting is also a better choice environmentally, in regards to keeping animal populations under control.
"It's better for the planet," she says. "People don't understand that New Zealand doesn't really have predators, so deer and pigs will keep multiplying as there isn't a predator to keep the numbers down.
"Hunters kill a small number compared to the government's use of 1080 poison - to hunt animals is more humane than them being poisoned. They'll either die that way or this way."
The mum-of-three also claims her children "love the adventure" of hunting.
Although Jaine was initially shocked by the barrage of "offensive and intrusive" comments, she has accepted that people will voice their opinions.
"I realised people have their own negative things going on which I don't understand... so now it's like water off a duck's back. If I were to read through them all, it would just make me unhappy," she explains.
Jaine made it clear she has no interest in hunting when it comes to African wildlife.
