Arsenal’s majority shareholder, Stan Kroenke, has come under fire for launching a new bloodsports television channel that was unveiled in the United Kingdom over the weekend that will show regular hunting programmes that includes killing elephants, lions and other vulnerable African species.

The American billionaire, who owns 67% of the Premier League club’s shares, oversaw the launch of My Outdoor TV [MOTV], which was revealed in the UK at the Game Fair in Hertfordshire and described by those who back the channel as the “Netflix of the hunting world”.

The channel will screen shows that follow hunters across the globe, primarily in Africa where big-money hunting trips are available, and involve various ways of killing wild animals that includes by bow and arrows and by guns.

A short timeline of elephant poaching Show all 10 1 /10 A short timeline of elephant poaching A short timeline of elephant poaching 1880s.jpg An estimated 26 million elephants roam the African continent when the first Europeans began building forts on Africa’s uninhabited islands. Robert H. Milligan, New York Public Library A short timeline of elephant poaching 1910.jpg At the turn of the century, European empires stretch across Africa. The elephant population halves within a century to around ten million. Ivory is in vogue in Europe and America. Combs, piano keys, pool table balls and ornaments fashioned from elephant tusks are in high demand. Creative commons A short timeline of elephant poaching 1979.jpg In the 20th century, elephant populations dwindle to 1.3 million because of growing demand from the West. Surreal Name Given, Flickr A short timeline of elephant poaching 1980s.jpg Throughout the 1980s, 250 elephants are killed every day. By the end of the decade, only 600,000 elephants remain in Africa. Kenya’s population drops 89% from 167,000 to a mere 19,000. The species is on the verge of extinction in many parts of Africa. Scotch Macaskill A short timeline of elephant poaching actual elephant forensic 1989.jpg CITES bans all commercial ivory trade; the ban comes into force in 1990. Kenya destroys its entire ivory stockpile in a gesture against the ivory trade. Space for Giants A short timeline of elephant poaching 1990s.jpg After the ban, elephant populations began to recover. Within the next ten years, Kenya’s population rises from 55,000 to over 125,000. The Kenyan population also grows to more than 30,000 by 2007 from the historic low of 16,000. Space for Giants A short timeline of elephant poaching 1999.jpg Under mounting pressure from African leaders, Cites allows a ‘one-off’ sale of stockpiled ivory. Japan buys 55 tons of ivory from Zimbabwe, Namibia and Zimbabwe for £3 million. Vidhi Doshi A short timeline of elephant poaching `Ivory elephants 2008.jpeg Cites grants Japan and China permission to import elephant ivory from government stockpiles; 102 tonnes of stockpiled ivory from Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe were sold to Japan and China for £9.3 million. Space for Giants A short timeline of elephant poaching elephantfence 2009.jpg There is a huge spike in the number of large ivory seizures, with 14 seizures totalling 23,235 tons. Space for Giants A short timeline of elephant poaching Elephant dust 2013(1).jpeg Approximately 450,000 elephants remain in Africa. There have been 18 large-scale seizures of illegal ivory, 41,674 kg in total, the highest annual since records began. It is highly likely just a small fraction of the illegal ivory through the system is actually detected. Space for Giants

It is owned by Outdoor Sportsman Group, part of Kroenke Sport Entertainment, and has already gone live in the United States, with the UK launch aiming to spread its audience across English-speaking countries.

One programme shows a presenter shooting a critically endangered African elephant before the bull turns and charges at him. Two more shots are heard before the animal falls to the ground and dies.

It’s a good shot. Definitely, some liver and some lungs hit Jana Waller, professional huntress

“There’s no other feeling in the world quite like walking up on your bull elephant,” the man says to the camera.

Another show, called Dark Continent Quest, features huntress Jana Waller and her travels across the world killing animals with a bow and arrow. One episode shows Ms Waller killing a hartebeest in South Africa, with the arrow hitting the animal before it runs away. Ms Waller and her guide, John Faul, wait for the animal to bleed to death before approaching it.

“It’s a good shot. Definitely, some liver and some lungs hit,” says Mr Faul while the animal is still alive.

Ms Waller adds “the shot was a little far back for me, but one shot did it,” before holding up the hartebeest’s “beautiful heart shaped horns”.

The channel will be available for $9.99 [£7.60] a month, but has unsurprisingly attracted fierce criticism for the nature of its coverage, with animal rights supporters calling for the channel to be banned.

A spokesman for MOTV defended the programmes that will make up its coverage, and claimed that it will only show “ethical hunts”.

Arsenal fans have regularly protested against Kroenke (Getty)

“MOTV will present ethical, fair chase hunting and as long as it’s legal it will be on there,” said Simon Barr, the channel’s spokesman. “If you like hunting elephants, there will be legal elephant hunts, ethical elephant hunts, shown in that context.”

Many of the presenters that take part in the hunting also describe themselves as “conservationists”, despite the brutal and graphic methods of killing the animals. Supporters of hunting claim that the big-money hunts are sometimes the only way of generating the funds that help protect species from extinction, though critics have described the early viewings as “sickening”.

“I’m sure people won’t like all the content on MOTV, but it won’t be censored,” Mr Barr added. “On every film there’s an explanation of what hunting does for conservation and the local community.”

One channel shows an endangered African elephant being shot and killed (Getty)

However, that defence was rejected by Philippa King, the chief operating officer of the League Against Cruel Sports, and she claimed that large parts of the money generated by trophy hunting does not go towards the conservation of endangered species.

“We’re living in a world now where most people can see how brutal and shameful trophy hunting is, yet the Arsenal boss is choosing to launch his sick TV channel in the UK,” Ms King told The Times.

“Most people won’t agree that trophy hunting is in any way ethical, and studies have debunked claims that most of the blood money goes towards supporting conservation,” Ms King added. “I’m not sure in what way an idiot with a gun against an elephant is a fair chase.

Various animals are shown being killed on trophy hunts (Bert Duplessis)

“Mr Kroenke could do the world a great favour by stopping peddling this kind of sickening TV and turning his focus on helping the animals he apparently likes to see killed.”