Police have launched a probe into a sickening video showing hunters shooting a stag which died in agony on a Highlands estate.
The Daily Record exposed the harrowing footage of a herd driven into the sea before a marksman picks off one of the terrified creatures from a tree line.
Thrashing around in the water, the stricken animal struggles to escape the water, before sinking below the surface as the hunting party congratulate the shooter.
Now cops have launched an investigation into the shoot and are appealing for witnesses.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: "We are aware of the footage and are investigating the matter.
"At this time, we would ask anyone with information about the incident, such as when and exactly where it took place, to contact police on 101, quoting reference NP/2780/20."
The three-minute video shows a marksman with a rifle track the herd down a bank and into the sea off the west coast.
He fires a single shot and a bloody spray is clearly seen coming from a stag as the startled herd make for the shore.
One member of the hunting party is heard laughing: “That’s it, good lad. He’s not going anywhere. Do you want to give him another one?”
As the doomed creature struggles in vain, he adds: “Well done, that’s him, fantastic. First time I’ve seen a deer been whacked crossing the sea.”
The video sparked outrage after being posted online - with even experienced hunters clamoring to condemn the kill as ‘inhumane’ and possibly ‘illegal.’
One posted with the video: “I see a set-up shot over water with houses behind and deer driven into the sea. To me it’s bad practice and potentially illegal shot.”
Another added: “I never feel bad taking a beast but watching the way that beast died I feel sick, not only taken the way it was the poor thing filled it’s lungs with water while trying to exit up onto the bank.
“I like to take everything as relaxed as I possibly can before it takes its last breath there was nothing relaxed and peaceful about that.”
Animal welfare campaigners also voiced concerns at the manner of the killing and the deer’s final moments.
Robbie Marsland, director of League Against Cruel Sports Scotland, said: “It sickened me.
“I’m not a veterinarian, but I think it’s clear to anyone that the stag in this video did not die a quick death.
“I also found the callous indifference to the animal’s suffering completely appalling.”
The Daily Record has been told the kill took place in the last week on the Ardnamurchan Estate in Kilchoan, Acharacle.
The shoot is said to have been carried out by West Highland Hunting group’s Head Stalker, Niall Rowantree.
Numerous members of the hunting community blasted West Highland Hunting and Rowantree over the stag’s prolonged death online.
The company’s website was shut down in the wake of the footage emerging and are unavailable for comment.
When then Daily Record approached Niall Rowantree about the manner in which the kill was conducted, he responded: “The information that you have been provided with is factually incorrect.”
The Daily Record telephoned the Ardnamurchan Estate about the footage and a spokesperson said: “I’ve not seen it or read about it. All I know is it was nothing to do with Ardnamurchan Estate.”
