A SCOTS hunting company has sparked fury for advertising reindeer hunts to Norway just weeks before Christmas.
Hendry, Ramsay & Waters offer punters an “exclusive” opportunity to shoot males in two Norwegian national parks.
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Based in Fife, the company’s website says they tour Breheimen and Jotunheimen national parks, which have the last surviving population of wild reindeer in Europe.
They claim the trip is very “exclusive” with the reindeer season short and there are only a few licenses available for big male shoots.
Animal rights campaigners have slammed the company’s tours and called for a ban on trophy hunting.
Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting member and explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes told the Record: “If we needed proof of just how evil trophy hunters really are, then this is surely it.
“This is the most un-British thing I have ever heard of.
“These cowards are happy to ruin the spirit of Christmas for children everywhere.
“For a British company to be profiting from this disgrace is beyond appalling.
“We need a complete ban on this sick industry.”
The tours are offered throughout the Summer and the company, which claims to be “Scotland’s Premier Sport Agency”, even suggests the type of gun and calibre to take.
The website says Jotunheimen National Park has reopened after being closed to all hunting for the past eight years adding: “This untouched territory will really be worth a visit.”
In Breheminen National Park tours are offered in two hunting areas.
The South East part is based in the mountains and is only accessible by foot to a log cabin as a base for the hunt.
And the South West section is accessible by boat and is claimed to be the easier hunting ground in the middle of the Reindeer area.
The website says: “The scenery is simply stunning and adds to the ambience of the trip.”
Animal welfare campaigner and Downton Abbey Star also called for a ban saying the government had been promising one since the 2019 election.
He told the Record: “Trophy hunters are the lowest of the low but this really takes the biscuit.
“British trophy hunters killing defenceless reindeer for kicks.
“I feel utterly sick to my stomach at the mere thought of it.
“Whatever happened to Christmas cheer and the season of goodwill?
“The best Christmas present the Government could give us is the ban on hunting trophies they’ve been promising for the last four years.
“Hopefully, this scandal will prompt them to get on with it.”
In the run-up to the last General Election, the Tories proposed any British tourist booking the reindeer trips would be blocked from bringing severed heads back into the UK.
But attempts to stop the practice together have stalled.
Sir Ranulph said: “It’s time the Government got on with the ban they promised to deliver in 2019.
“British trophy hunters are laughing at the delays and the blocking of the ban.
“They have gleefully carried on shooting lions, elephants, giraffes and hippos for ‘fun’.
“This practice has got to stop immediately.
“We need tough action against these barbaric sadists.”
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The company, run by 72-year-old Vernon Waters, also offers trips to France, Spain, Argentina and South Africa.
He previously declined to comment but The Scottish Sun has reached out for a response.
