Barbaric- Fury at big game hunter’s exotic haul

A BIG game hunter poses beside an elephant he has just shot in the wilds of Africa.The bearded marksman cradling a powerful gun looks every inch the classic adventurer of movies.

But in reality David Barrett, 55, is an ex-civil servant from Hampshire who brags of slaughtering more than 300 animals — and feeling "no guilt" about it.

He said: "I enjoy hunting, it's primeval and I don't see it as evil. When I look through the scope I don't see a living thing — it is a target to engage."

Mr Barrett has spent 14 years travelling the world hunting big game and has built a trophy room full of stuffed animals and mounted heads.

He insisted his actions were justified — but last night he faced a storm of criticism, with one campaigner accusing him of "bloodthirsty power thrills".

Mr Barrett justified his killings by saying he only shoots animals which are edible.

He does not target big cats but so far his tally includes three elephants, a hippo, 14 buffalo and dozens of antelope.

He said: "Those who eat meat but profess anti-hunting views are hypocritical. And I have no feelings of guilt for killing. Most people in the Western world just pay someone else to do the dirty work for them."

Mr Barrett, who hunts deer and rabbits when he is home in Britain, also said wild animal numbers are a problem in some areas and had to be controlled.

And he explained that hunting generates huge sums of cash for villages which can be used to build clinics or schools.

But Liane Eltan, of PETA — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — said: "A psychologist would have a field day with his lame rationalisation for his admitted enjoyment in his vile hobby. There's nothing admirable in hunting."