King Juan Carlos of Spain has become the latest world leader to show off his "hunting" prowess by shooting a booze-addled tame bear, it was claimed yesterday.

In the dubious tradition set by the likes of the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, the monarch allegedly gunned down the tipsy bear after it was released into his path by handlers.

The king was on a shooting trip in the Vologda region in north-west Russia in August when he slaughtered the domesticated creature, said the daily Kommersant newspaper. The bear was transported to the spot from a holiday camp where it had been kept to entertain children.

In a letter published in the press, a local hunting control official wrote to the region's governor complaining about the slaughter of the "kind-hearted and fun bear named Mitrofan". The official, Sergei Starostin, said that during the "repulsive drama" the bear was plied with a mixture of honey and vodka and prodded into a field in front of the king. "Obviously, the sadly drunken animal was an easy target. His highness Juan Carlos brought Mitrofan down with one shot."

Russia has a tradition of giving privileged hunters an unsporting advantage. Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev were known for blasting away at drugged bears that sometimes were chained to trees. KGB scuba divers were used to put fish on the hooks of lines held by the leaders.

In 1997 the prime minister, Viktor Chernomyrdin, caused a national outrage by shooting dead a hibernating female bear and her two cubs. He was flown by helicopter to a landing site and then transported by car on a road built specially for the purpose through the forest to her lair.

A spokeswoman for the Spanish king said the claim was "ridiculous".