High profile slaughter comes two months after Cecil the Lion was killed

A hunting ‘massacre’ was under way today in South Africa with hundreds of antelope, wildebeest , baboons and other animals expected to be gunned down as they are deliberately herded towards high-paying foreign hunters.

The slaughter is expected to last a week during which the animals will be forced to run for their lives along a narrow track lined with elevated platforms from which the hunters will take pot shots.

Today, animal welfare charities and activists descended on the farm in Limpopo province, north of Johannesburg, to try and convince organisers to call off the shoot.

Trapped: The hunters sit on high platforms from where they can take potshots at the animals in front of them

Anger: The animal activists protesting against the hunt took pictures as those travelling to take part, many of whom are said to be foreign and are in South Africa specially

This afternoon, one of the groups, Ban Animal Trading South Africa, described the scene on its Facebook page as the controversial event got underway.

‘A devastating update sent with gun shot ringing in our ears. Sorry Team BAT have to report the MASSACRE is underway.

'The 'Drivers' are driving these terrified Wild Animals out of the bush and down a specially cleared 2 km stretch of land where 600 platforms have been erected for these lazy BLOOD THIRSTY hunters to sit and shoot.

'We have megaphones and are shouting, we have sirens on loudspeakers and nothing will stop these MURDERERS who have no heart, no compassion and are made up of pure evil, ’ the BAT page reported.

By lunchtime, BAT confirmed that 18 animals had been killed, including wildebeest, a variety of breeds of buck and warthog.

There are thought to be 13 hunters, from Belgium and Holland, attending the killing which is expected to last up to eight days.

Many of them are accompanied by wives and girlfriends who were seen today observing the slaughter.

Prevention: The activists had hoped to convince the organisers to stop the hunt, but by lunchtime 18 animals were already said to have been slaughtered for sport

Horror: Cecil the Lion was killed by tourist Walter Palmer two months ago sparking anger across the world

Abused: Graffiti was daubed on the garage door of hunter Palmer's Florida home. His dental surgery in suburban Minneapolis has re-opened but has a security presence

The high profile slaughter comes just two months after a global outrage surrounding the killing of Cecil the lion in neighbouring Zimbabwe.

The hunter, Walter Palmer, was forced into hiding following protests at his dental practice and threats to his life.

Ainsly Hay, of the NSPCA, South Africa’s national animal charity, described the appalling terror facing the animals, including warthog and bucks of all ages and sizes, who would not even be guaranteed a quick death.

‘The animals have no chance of escaping attack, and there is no guarantee that they will be killed. This is a far cry from a hunter who stalks a prey and lines up and takes aim on a single animal who is still.

'These animals are going to be terrified, they are being chased through the bush, they will be scared, running together, they are moving targets, it is going to be horrendous,’ she said.

Casual: This image of a boy playing in his iPad while sitting on the dead animal was unearthed by campaigners and prompter further indignation over trophy hunters

No regrets: But Allan Tarpley also posed with what appears to be a bull sable antelope. It is a native of savanna lands in Africa. He tells Daily Mail Online people have gone 'crazy' over the death of 'one lion'

Last night it emerged that a small buck was badly injured by a shot, but managed to flee, and then had to be hunted by dogs in order to be destroyed.

Isabel Wenzel, from the SPCA, was allowed onto the property to inspect the carcasses of the animals, some of which had already been gutted and hung up on a hook.

‘It was a cooler full of dead game of various breeds. I was relieved to see that there were no corpses riddled with bullets, so a lot of the animals had been killed cleanly which is as much as you can hope for them,’ she told MailOnline.

Beaters, or drivers, were this morning bussed into the farm hosting the event, where they will be paid £10 a day each for banging drums to corral the prey down a dirt track along which scores of platforms have been erected for hunters to take pot shots.