WARNING: DISTRESSING IMAGES
A Canadian couple kissed as they posed for a photograph knelt behind a huge lion they had killed while on a safari in South Africa.
Darren and Carolyn Carter were taking part in a tour set up through Legelela Safaris when they shot and killed at least two lions - with pictures being posted to the tour operator's Facebook page.
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The couple, from Edmonton in Alberta, Canada, run a taxidermy business and have described themselves as 'passionate conservationists' despite taking part in the hunts, reports the Mirror.
The tour operator shared the snaps of the pair alongside the caption: "Hard work in the hot Kalahari sun...well done. A monster lion."
In another post, they wrote: "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...."
When the Mirror contacted the couple, Mr Carter said: "We aren't interested in commenting on that at all. It's too political."
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Legelela offers giraffe hunts for £2,400, zebra from £2,000, with prices for leopard, rhino, lion and elephant hunts available 'on request'.
Eduardo Goncalves from the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting thinks that the lions the couple shot were bred on a lion farm and killed in an enclosure.
He added: "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.
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"This couple should be utterly ashamed of themselves, not showing off and snogging for the cameras."
Just days ago a dentist was part of a gang of illegal poachers that were arrested for reportedly killing over 1,000 protected jaguars.
Brazilian authorities have arrested seven men in the country's northwestern state of Acre, on suspicion of having killed thousands of endangered animals including jaguars, capybara, collared peccary and red brocket deer.
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Reports state the longest-serving member of the gang and the most prolific is Temistocles Barbosa Freire, a dentist who is believed to have illegally killed over 1,000 jaguars since 1987.
Reports state the Brazilian authorities had hacked the gang's conversations and monitored their movements for at least three months before making the arrests.
In that time it's said that they killed 'eight jaguars, 13 capybaras, 10 collared peccaries and two deer'.
Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Legelela Safaris