A man regarded amongst trophy hunters as one of the biggest killers in the game has boasted about the amount of animals that he has killed as well as posing for pictures in front of the dead creatures.

89-year-old Tony Sanchez-Arino has been described in the past as the "most dangerous and experienced game hunter" in the world and - according to estimates and statements - could have killed as many as 1,300 elephants and 340 lions over the course of his life.

Over the past six decades the Spaniard Sanchez-Arino has killed 4,000 animals - that's probably a conservative estimate, too.

The African elephant. Credit: PA

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Despite making a living for his entire life through killing the animals, he's also made strange and contradictory claims about the African elephant being hunted to extinction.

In his 2002 book, Elephants, Ivory, and Hunters, he said: "The African elephant will be hunted to extinction in the wild within our lifetime, to the shame of humanity."

According to that book, Sanchez-Arino has given up his whole life to the "pursuit of this magnificent animal".

Sanchez-Arino is thought to have killed more than 1,300 elephants. Credit: PA

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Whilst 'given his life' is potentially a bit rich, it is certainly true. He's been at this for 60 years and is thought to have killed 1,317 elephants, 167 leopards, 2,093 buffalo, 340 lions, and 127 black rhino at the last count.

Bloody hell, that's a lot of animals.

Oh, and he started his career as an ivory hunter in 1952, before moving to work as a hunting guide in the 1960s.

Wow.

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All of this comes as the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting has revealed that the amount of ivory stolen from elephants through hunting has increased twelve fold over the past three decades.

That, coupled with several other factors, has seen numbers of elephants in the wild dwindling.

The illegal ivory trade is seeing elephant numbers dwindle in the wild. Credit: PA

Whereas there used to be as many as 1.3 million elephants around the world, there are now thought to be around just 400,000.

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The founder of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, Eduardo Gonçalves told The Sun: "The trophy hunting industry is slaughtering elephants left, right and centre.

"Killing elephants for fun is unacceptable, even more so because of the seriousness of the current crisis.

"The recent surge in elephant hunting shows that the industry is out of control."