A trophy hunter seen sneaking up on a sleeping lion and killing it in a viral video has been identified as 64-year-old Illinois man.

The video, purportedly filmed during a guided hunt in Zimbabwe in 2011, has been widely shared after the Twitter account @Protect_Wildlife posted it Monday. It shows a bearded man pumping three shots into an unsuspecting male lion before being congratulated by his gushing guide. (Warning: the clip, embedded below, is disturbing.)

The Daily Mail identified the hunter as Guy Gorney of Manhattan, Ill. Gorney is not exactly a stranger to hunting controversy. In 2015, he boasted to CBS of killing at least 70 big game animals, including elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, buffalos and leopards.

In the interview, Gorney expressed no remorse for his bloodthirsty hobby.

"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," he told CBS. "But to me, either way, I've stopped a beating heart."

Predictably, the video was greeted with outrage and disgust. One Twitter user suggested that boiling water be poured over the hunter while he's sleeping; another proposed that he be fed alive to a pride of lions. Yet another person sarcastically commented, "A sleeping lion, wow what a big man!"

In a column for the Daily Mail, British TV personality Piers Morgan said he video made him physically ill.

"To see such a magnificent beast lying fast asleep in its natural habitat as it was shot dead has reduced many who've seen it to tears of shock and anger.

"But Gorney, a 64-year-old from Manhattan, Illinois, doesn't give a damn what we think.

"The scumbag's Facebook page depicts him proudly posing with a dead lion."

However, the only Guy Gorney page we could find on Facebook showed no photos of animal trophies and just a single post — a notice that his profile picture picture was updated Wednesday morning. The page appeared to have been scrubbed of all other content.

MORE: Trophy hunter shot dead while trying to bag his second lion

But the page's "likes" indicated Gorney is a fan of hunting outfitters and safaris, TV shows and videos about hunting, and Ted Nugent.

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Read Mike Moffitt's latest stories and send him news tips at moffitt@sfgate.com.

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