A couple photographed kissing next to a lion they have just killed while on safari has caused outrage.

Darren and Carolyn Carter, from Edmonton in Canada, posed for the camera minutes after shooting dead the animal while trophy hunting in South Africa.

“Hard work in the hot Kalahari sun,” they wrote underneath the picture posted online. “A monster lion.”

Another image shows the couple in front of a second dead big cat. “There is nothing like hunting the king of the jungle,” the photo is captioned.

But the pictures were widely condemned after being placed on the website of Legelela Safaris – a tour company which specialises in organising big game hunts.

Eduardo Goncalves, the founder of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, said: “It looks as though this lion was a tame animal killed in an enclosure, bred for the sole purpose of being the subject of a smug selfie.

“This couple should be utterly ashamed of themselves, not showing off and snogging for the cameras.”

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Australian TV host Danny Clayton said: “More idiots that get their rocks off by pointing a boomstick at a beautiful animal."

But the couple have refused to be drawn on the photos. Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Mr Carter, who runs a taxidermy business with his wife, said: “We aren’t interested in commenting…it’s too political.”

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