Ukip’s new leader has claimed he could throttle a badger with his bare hands.

Henry Bolton, who was elected last month, suggested it would be “suitable” for him to chase one of the creatures across a Devon moor before capturing it and breaking its neck.

The 54-year-old's bizarre comments came during a Sky News interview in which he was asked about earlier remarks he had made about a possible initiation ceremony for Ukip leaders.

Reminded about the comments, Mr Bolton replied: “They gave me a few options as ideas for an initiation ceremony into the leadership of Ukip.

“The one that was probably most suitable for me was chasing a badger across Dartmoor, capturing it and breaking its neck with one’s bare hands.”

Mr Bolton, a former Liberal Democrat, emerged from obscurity to unexpectedly see off five other candidates and become Ukip’s fourth leader in less than two years.

He has pledged to make the party more professional, although his comments on murdering badgers are likely to cause concern among Ukip supporters who want to see the party re-establish its popularity amid plummeting poll ratings.

The issue of killing badgers is a contentious one in the UK. In 2013, ministers introduced culls of the creatures in several areas in an attempt to prevent the spread of bovine tuberculosis – a policy heavily criticised by animal rights groups.

Campaigners said Mr Bolton’s comments were “stupid” and claimed they were part of a broader problem of badgers being “demonised”.

Dominic Dyer of the Badger Trust told the New Statesman: “I think from what he was saying he was trying to prove his manliness by saying he’d kill it with his bare hands, which is disgraceful in my view.

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“It is disappointing – I’m not surprised, I think it’s just part of a broader picture that we’re seeing of this poor animal being demonised and being given the impression that it’s an out-of-control menace, a vicious predator that needs to be controlled…

“We’re very worried that this type of demonisation, these types of statements just give the green light to people who want to be cruel to these animals.”

Mr Bolton also told Sky News that “in an ideal world” Britain would have zero immigration, but said he accepted this would be “very difficult” to implement.

The former solider and policeman said: “In an ideal world, and I'm not saying this is practical, we should be aiming - certainly for the next few years - to zero net immigration.

"But the chances of hitting zero net immigration, it's a very difficult target to hit - for no other reason than the fact net immigration is also affected by the number of people who leave the country, and we can't control how many people leave the country.