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A man who shot a sleeping lion dead has been named as a notorious American trophy hunter.

The video, thought to have been filmed in Zimbabwe in 2011, shows the man pointing a rifle at the sleeping beast before shooting it to wake it.

He then fires two more shots to kill it before being congratulated by his coach.

The shooter is allegedly Guy Gorney, 64, from Illinois, who has previously bragged about his hunting habits.

The video, posted by Protect All Wildlife, prompted horrified reactions from Twitter users, with some labelling the shooter “gutless” and saying it “made them sick.”

In 2015, Mr Gorney told CBS Chicago that he had shot at least 70 big game animals, including what he calls the Big Five – elephant, lion, leopard, rhino and buffalo.

He said: “I like pitting myself against these animals. And what greater trophy than an elephant?

“I really like hunting elephants. They’re difficult to track down. They’re incredibly dangerous.

“The first elephant I got, I walked over 120 miles tracking elephants before I actually caught up to him and found him.

“You can say, why’d you shoot a lion? I love zebra, so shooting a lion probably saves 70 zebra a year, give or take. There’s all these kinds of balances in nature.

“I have a hard time understanding, if you have a picture of somebody with a deer, nobody seems to care.

“But if it’s an elephant, it’s a big problem. If it’s a lion – especially now – it’s a huge problem. But to me, either way, I’ve stopped a beating heart.”