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Shot for fun by bloodthirsty British tourists, these magnificent monkeys are the budget kill for hunters looking for a cheap trophy.

Baboons and vervet monkeys are the most popular targets, with hundreds hauled back to the UK in recent years.

They are legal to hunt under international law, and hunt organisers charge just a nominal fee to bag one – or sometimes even throw them in for free.

When compared with the tens of thousands of pounds cost of hunting leopards and elephants, they are a truly cheap thrill for the shameless hunters flocking to Africa to snag a sick souvenir.

Brits Chris Beadle, Alan Nicholson, David Tart and Rodney Fuller pose in these photos with dead baboons on trips with Umlilo Safaris in South Africa.

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Leaving a testimony on the firm’s website, Mr Tart and wife Julie said: “Both our visits have exceeded our expectations in every aspect.”

Umlilo customer Micky Jordan from Neasden, North West London, posted images of himself with a dead monkey on Facebook.

Critics called him “disgusting” and told him: “You should feel ashamed.” But he shrugged it off, replying: “Didn’t realise everyone was vegetarian.”

The Mirror is campaigning for an end to trophy hunting.

Backing our plea, explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes said: “It is completely inhuman to shoot creatures who are so like us. What were these people thinking when they bought a ‘monkey-hunting holiday’?

"They’re a disgrace to our country. The people who do this should be in jail. This is a crime against nature.”

Another hunting operation, Africa Hunt Lodge charges $100 (£81) to take a vervet monkey as a trophy.

A snap on its website shows a British woman called Jamie posing over a dead vervet monkey after a hunt in South Africa.

The website says of the monkeys: “They travel in large groups, so we will be able to find the older males from the group.

"Many of these vervet monkeys raid our orange crops... so culling out these monkeys is of great importance to us.”

But in recent years there has been a sharp fall in these Old World primates, which are the size of a large domestic cat and have distinctive blue genitalia.

It is thought there used to be millions of them, but now there are just 250,000.

As well as being hunted, many are illegally traded on the black market as pets.

Eduardo Goncalves, of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting, said: “People will be horrified that British hunters are shooting monkeys for fun. We share over 90% of our DNA with monkeys and baboons. Trophy hunters are killing our evolutionary cousins.”

Some hunt firms encourage customers to use bows and arrows – increasing the risk of inflicting agonising injuries.

Nearly 500 trophies from dead primates have been brought into Britain in recent years, including bodies, skins and skulls, according to data from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

They include 383 baboons and 111 monkeys since the 1980s. Such hunts came under the spotlight as delegates from 180 countries met recently in Geneva to consider proposals to protect threatened animals.

Kills like the ones organised by Umlilo and Africa Hunt Lodge are legal as long as they comply with a country’s hunting legislation.

Shockingly Africa Hunt Lodge, which operators a “no kill, no fee” policy, also arranges hunts for children.

A photo on its website taken in June shows a child named Nolan holding a rifle after a vervet monkey was shot.

Audrey Delsink, of the Humane Society International, said: ”Vervet monkeys and baboons have a complex social system and hierarchy, and these killings cause havoc in the remaining troops. It’s deeply disturbing that hunters, including children, would derive pleasure from such cruel acts.”

CANADA

Trophies exported: 68,899.

Revenue: £823million.

Mainly black bear, timber wolf, grizzly bear, cougar, polar bear.

SOUTH AFRICA

Trophies exported: 44,700.

Revenue: £82million.

Mainly antelope, impala, wildebeest, zebra, lion.

NAMIBIA

Trophies exported 22,394.

Revenue £23.4million.

Mainly antelope, warthog, bush pig

CONGO

Trophies exported: 12,195.

Revenue: n/a.

Antelope, monkey.

ZAMBIA

Trophies exported: 6,909.

Revenue £4.1million.

Mainly leopard and lion.

Source: Conservation Action: Killing for Trophies, IFAW

What we want

The Daily Mirror is calling on the Government to ban imported animal trophies and restrict the trade of body parts through new legislation.

Our End Trophy Hunting campaign is backed by celebrities, MPs, peers and conservationists – highlighting the sick trade in animals shot for pleasure.

Charity Born Free says 2,500 “trophies” were shipped to the UK from 2008 to 2017.

This sickening cargo included parts from 560 African elephants, 301 hippopotamuses and 265 American black bears.