
It is a little known, but barbaric practice which involves frightened Maral stags being locked into a brutal torture chamber, tied up and having their antlers hacked off - all to make treatments to boost the sexual performance of middle-aged men.

Shocking new pictures show the terror and anguish of the Siberian red deer as an electric saw is used with no anaesthetic to cut off their magnificent velvet antlers, which are made from fast-growing bone.

Russians of both sexes bathe in the blood at farms where the deer are bred in the remote Altai Mountains, convinced it is a testosterone-driven elixir.

'Bewildered': A frightened red deer, his eyes bulging with terror, is held in place by a man's foot on his head to hold him in place for cutting

'Shell-shocked': The stag closes its eyes as its velvet antlers are brutally sawn off. They are hacked off without the use of anaesthetic

Barbaric: Blood drips down the stocks after both antlers are removed by farmers in Siberia who harvest them as they are supposed to help boost flagging libidos in middle-aged and elderly men

Antlers and blood are exported to South Korea and other Asian countries for use in a range of traditional remedies but especially to boost flagging libidos in middle-aged and elderly men.

Blood from the deer is also used for remedies that claim to slow down the ageing process in women.

The disturbing images show how the animals are herded into a special cutting chamber where a press 'closes in on the stag from each side, while the floor lowers, so the deer is left in suspended animation, its head thrust onto a ledge as if condemned to the guillotine, its hooves flailing but unable to touch the ground', reported The Siberian Times, which disclosed the images.

Observers say the creatures are 'bewildered' and 'shell-shocked', their eyes 'bulging with fright' .

The pictures show how 'four or five men are inside the cutting chamber, cursing loudly with Russian swear words, evidently to intimidate the animal into submission.

Brutal: In the cutting chamber three farmers stand on the stag's back to keep him place as the sawing takes place. They swear and curse loudly in Russian to intimidate and frighten the animal

Terror: Eyes wide with fear, the stag is tied into position. The rope is held fast by a man outside the cutting shed until the deed is done

'Two or three stand on the stag's back from above, one holds the prized antlers, his trainer on the animal's muzzle, immobilising the head. One cuts the antlers, his foot on the back of the neck, preventing the beast moving a centimetre until it is divested of its valuable trophy.

'A rope leashed to the antler is held fast by another man outside the cutting shed.'

The cutting is over in seconds but the distressed deer moan and shriek as the process is underway.

One farm hand called Mikhail called the slicing off of the antlers 'equal in feeling to your hand being chopped off', but other workers claimed it was more like nails being cut.

The reaction of the animals suggests it is 'agonising'.

As well as losing their prized antlers, an incision is made into the stag's jugular vein to remove three litres of precious blood.

A coagulating powder and clay is daubed on the open wounds to stop the bleeding, while the antlers are heated and cooled, dipped in and out of hot water, in an age-old process to preserve them for export to traditional markets.

The cutters swig the blood which they see as a 'natural Viagra'.

The key derivative from the antlers is Pantocrin, on which many 'cures' and even alcoholic drinks are based.

Trapped: 'The deer is left in suspended animation, its head thrust onto a ledge as if condemned to the guillotine, its hooves flailing but unable to touch the ground'

Agitated: The deer looks uncomfortable on first entering the cutting room, which closes in on him from each side while the floor lowers

Awaiting their fate: A pair of stags waiting to be herded into the cutting room. One farm hand say the pain of antler removal is 'equal in feeling to your hand being chopped off', but other workers say it is more like nails being cut

The antlers grow back, and a year later the stag will be put through the same ordeal again.

Irina Novozhilova, president of Russian Animal Protection Centre 'Vita', said of the antler cutting: 'It is a painful operation for an animal, and painkilling is necessary.

'Doing it regularly, without anaesthesia like on these farms, breeding animals for the purpose of this regular painful antler removal - all this sounds totally abnormal to me.

'It seems barbarian. And look at those blood baths. This is manipulating nature, without any sense.

'It is a pure example of a cruel attitude to animals.'

She suggested the process was medieval, saying: 'It is strange that we are discussing this matter in the 21st Century, because the faith in the effectiveness of this medicine made from antlers comes from ancient times.

Grim: 'Imagine five or ten metres of fabric, soaked in blood - this is what we get from antlers,' says Sergey Paskukhov, husband of Larisa Pastukhova, who runs a guest house offering blood baths to health tourists

Bounty: Drained of their blood, the antlers are ready for processing. The magnificent velvet constructions are made from fast-growing bone

'Ancient people did believe they could cure themselves with the help of animal body parts.

'In medieval times people also believed in curative substances. I recall stories about bloody Countess Bathory who enjoyed taking baths in the blood of young girls.

'And King James I of England regularly took baths with animal blood.

'Both these facts sound wild nowadays, but you can build a parallel to these legal red deer farms.'

She strongly disputed that the antler blood had any medical advantages.

'This is simply an example of a placebo,' she said. 'People prefer such dummies because it is much easier to use these than to live a healthy lifestyle.

'Curing yourself at the cost of an animal's pain, or even its life, is not something that should be going on the 21st Century.'

When antlers have to be removed for sound medical reasons, anaesthetic is used by vets, she said.

Gore: Blood drips from the sawn-off antler of a stag. Their jugular veins are also slit and three litres of precious blood removed (right)

Freed: A stag bounds away from the cutting room having had both antlers removed. They grow back and a year later the deer will be put through the same ordeal again

But at Novotalitskoye Farm, 395 miles south of Siberia's largest city, Novosibirsk, around 4,000 Maral deer, including 2,000 stags, are bred especially to serve this remedy industry.

Annually about 3,000 specially preserved antlers - costing £190 per kilogram - are exported, primarily to South Korea.

The antlers grow at a phenomenal rate, as much as 2.5 cm (1 inch) a day. They often reach 71 cm (28 inches) in total length but can grow much larger, for example to 115 cm (45 inches).

You feel euphoric after the first bath, like you are flying Guesthouse owner Larisa Pastukhova

In the past, hunters and poachers killed the Maral deer virtually leading to extinction among this Altai sub-species but now the antlers are seen as a 'renewable' resource. A good stag will produce new antlers for 15 or more years.

The farm's website boasts: 'Extract from red deer antlers acts as a strong tonic, especially for men's potency. It strengthens the body's bones, muscles, teeth, eye sight and hearing, cures pleurisy, pneumonia, asthma, joint pain, osteoporosis, and problems with the spine.'

Relaxing in a blood bath, Larisa Pastukhova, 44, who runs a guest house offering baths to health tourists, is adamant about the health benefits of the baths.

'You feel euphoric after the first bath, like you are flying,' she insisted, as she posed in a tub seeking to show its benefits.

'After a second bath symptoms of some chronic diseases which you have - if you do - get stronger, to then be healed.

'For example, my 65-year-old mother had issues with her joints, and doctors told her she would face real problems unless she had surgery.

Content: Relaxing in a blood bath, Mrs Pastukhova, 44, swears by their health benefits, claiming, 'You feel euphoric after the first bath, like you are flying'

'She decided to try the baths, a course of ten.

Imagine ten metres of fabric, soaked in blood - this is what we get from antlers Sergey Paskukhov

'When she arrived here she had to be assisted to walk as it was painful to lift her feet.

'For three years after she took the baths she forgot about having joints, and only this year some of the problems came back. So now she is due to have another set of baths.'

Her husband Sergey Paskukhov, 49, said: 'I compare antlers to the human arm, with lots of blood inside - in fact, a lot more than the arm contains.

'Imagine five or ten metres of fabric, soaked in blood - this is what we get from antlers.'

He said: 'Deer blood is a Klondike of vitamins and amino acids; blood baths treat chondrosis, ease blood pressure, wipe away problems with joints, sort conditions like gastric ulcers and a number of heart and blood vessel complaints.

Tradition: The antlers are heated and cooled by being dipped in and out of hot water in an age-old process to preserve them for export to traditional markets

Business: Two farmers carrying a rack of antlers. Antlers and blood are exported to South Korea and other Asian countries for use in a range of traditional remedies

'Russians, and Westerners too, do not pay attention to this kind of treatment, certainly not as much as it deserves, but people in the East knew and loved it for centuries.

'Blood baths slow ageing and activate what I call 'love of life' - people become a lot happier after a course of treatment.

'They certainly improve potency, and those who have no problems with it have to be careful taking baths.'

He claimed that young women 'say their skin and hair feel like velvet and silk after our baths.

'No spa could compare to the effect of these blood baths. People suffering from hair loss find their hair grows back.

'I even see that grass grows faster in the corner where I empty the baths. It is literally a life-giving water.'

He explained the ancient Russian tradition: 'Baths are taken with the deep red water temperature at 37C to 41C, from eight to 30 minutes depending on the bather's health.'

Awaiting the chop: This group are among 2,000 stags at Novotalitskoye Farm bred specially for their blood and antlers for remedy industry

Scenic: The deer are bred in idylic surroundings 395 miles south of Siberia's largest city, Novosibirsk. Annually about 3,000 specially preserved antlers - costing £190 per kilogram - are exported

A course of ten baths, one a day, is normal, but 'another option is a five-day course with baths in the morning and evening'.

Most clients are said to be 'men of a certain age seeking to rejuvenate their sexual prowess'.

But Anna Filipova, head of programmes of the Russian office of the International Fund of Animal Welfare (IFAW), is vocal in her opposition.

'Such farms, which are legal, are based on the idea that they provide a humane way of making products out of the animals,' she said.

'But we are now living in the 21st Century. The time has come to move to a different kind of medical treatment in a way that we don't need to traumatise animals in order to cure diseases.

'Our civilization is developing, our society is gradually becoming more humane; for example, the death penalty was once public, and was an entertainment for people, but nowadays it is something outrageous even to think about.

'Yet cruelty towards animals is still here.

'Especially in Russia, the idea of being humane to animals is not yet quite popular.

'This is why such farms still exist. We are supplying these products to Chinese and other Asian markets but the problem of killing and traumatising animals remains on our territory.'