Couple’s delight at slaughter of beasts

A COUPLE pose proudly with animals they have slaughtered – even kissing behind the carcass of one magnificent lion they hunted in the Kalahari desert.

Sickening pictures of Darren and Carolyn Carter were taken on a trip run by a South African company targeting hunting packages at Brits.

Legelela Safaris shared the photos on their public Facebook page and wrote under the snap of them kissing next to their kill: “Hard work in the hot Kalahari sun...well done. A monster lion.”

The couple, who own a taxidermy business, describe themselves as “passionate conservationists”.

They are pictured with a second lion on the Legelela account, captioned: “There is nothing like hunting the king of the jungle in the sands of the Kalahari. Well done to the happy huntress and the team...”

A snap on the couple’s open Instagram account shows Mr Carter in front of a black bear he shot, with the caption: “Come on bear season, wakey wakey!” And in a snap with a slain elk he wrote: “Awesome elk season.”

When confronted by the Mirror over their decision to pose kissing with the dead lion, Mr Carter said: “We aren’t interested in commenting on that at all. It’s too political.”

Eduardo Goncalves of the Campaign to Ban Trophy

Hunting believes the lions the couple shot were bred on a lion farm and killed in an enclosure.

Linda Park, boss of Voice 4 Lions in South Africa, agreed the white lion pictured was “definitely captive” and she “strongly suspects” the second darker one was as well. Mr Goncalves said: “There is nothing romantic about killing an innocent animal. It looks as though this lion was a tame animal killed in an enclosure, bred for the sole purpose of being the subject of a smug selfie. This couple should be utterly ashamed of themselves, not showing off and snogging for the cameras.”

The couple from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, say they spend their holidays “either hunting or going to taxidermy seminars”.

Legelela Safaris was booked as an exhibitor at the Great British Shooting Show in Birmingham next year but after public outcry the NEC banned any firms that sell trips to hunt big game. Legelela offers giraffe hunts for £2,400, zebra from £2,000, with leopard, rhino, lion and elephant prices available

“on request”.

Legelela Safaris declined to comment.

SMUG The Carters pose with yet another animal they killed