A 74-YEAR-OLD Brit has been exposed as an "elite" wildlife killer who has shot dead hundreds of animals worldwide for fun.

Pensioner Malcolm King has been named as one of the world's best big game hunters by international safari magazines - even travelling to far flung rainforests to pursue his hobby.

3 Hunter Malcolm King has shot animals including wild sheep, goats, deer and oxen Credit: Safari Club Online Record Book

As part of his hunting career - that has spanned almost two decades from 2000 - Mr King has achieved "goals" that required shooting some of Africa's "big five" that include lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and buffalo.

According to animal campaigners, the combined number of animals required for the awards won by King is 528.

Among his awards are prizes for shooting African ‘Big Game’, wild cats, and bears.

In one safari blog from Cameroon, organisers said Mr King had been "travelling for quite some time" and "needed a number of specific animals from the rainforests.

They noted: "His collection already included 340 species of animals from around the world."

Describing the English retiree, the website stated: "Malcolm King has been actively engaged in trophy hunting worldwide since 2000, 18 years altogether.

"Lots of world-renowned hunters may feel envious of his extensive trophy collection, It contains some of the hardest and most desired trophies from Asia, Europe and America, as well as from Africa."

If you add the minimum number of kills needed for all his awards, it comes to well over 500 Eduardo Goncalves

They said he had was in pursuit of the 2019 Weatherby Award - noted in hunting circles as a prestigious hunting award that is based on the "number and quality" of the collected species.

But speaking to the Telegraph, Eduardo Goncalves, founder of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, slammed King for the "obscene" hobby.

He said: "King is among the world's 'elite' big game hunters - very few have amassed so many of the industry's obscene awards.

"If you add the minimum number of kills needed for all his awards, it comes to well over 500.

"International law allows wildlife serial killers to get away with murder."

The Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting estimates that around 1.7 million animals have been killed by trophy hunters over the past decade, of which over 200,000 were endangered species.

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Speaking to the publication from his Gloucestershire offices, Mr King denied being a trophy hunter. Instead, he insisted he was he was a huntsman.

He added it was "no different to stalking or culling animals in the Highland", saying: "There is nothing wrong if done ethically and legally."

Mr King said: "Everything I have ever done has been legal."

3 Malcolm King has been named among the world's most elite hunters Credit: profihunt

3 Mr King has travelled across Asia, Africa and the South Pacific to pursue hunting Credit: optimumhunting.com

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