Nick Haridemos has stood down from his influential position within a popular social club after facing brutal backlash for posing with dead wild animals he killed in Africa.
The Canberra businessman was labelled a ‘parasite’ after pictures surfaced of him celebrating his trophy kills, including a baboon he put sunglasses and a hat on.
His resignation as vice president of the Hellenic Club was announced on the club’s Facebook page Wednesday, after members threatened to boycott their memberships if action wasn’t taken against him.
Nick Haridemos has stood down as vice president of the Hellenic Club after facing brutal backlash for posing with dead wild animals he killed in Africa
The Canberra businessman was hailed a ‘parasite’ after pictures surfaced of him celebrating his trophy kills, including a baboon he put sunglasses and a hat on (pictured)
A series of photos, understood to have been taken on different hunting trips spanning from 2010 to 2016, showed him posed with a variety of large dead animals.
The pictures were shared widely by animal rights activist groups after being uncovered from an online forum dedicated to hunters sharing their kills.
In one photo, Mr Haridemos carried a dismembered tusk proudly over his shoulder, and in another he leaned up against an elephant while holding up a gun.
A bloodied baboon laid face-down in one of the other photos, with the shooter crouched behind it with a smile on his face.
In one photo, Mr Haridemos carried a dismembered tusk proudly over his shoulder
He leaned up against a huge dead elephant while holding up a gun (pictured) in one of the photos
In another, he smiled while sitting on the hind end of a dying African buffalo.
‘You should terminate Nick Haridemos immediately. People who kill animals for fun are basically psychopaths,’ one angry club member wrote on the Hellenic page.
‘How dare you elect him as your Vice President knowing that he is such a horrifying human! Shame on you and shame on the Hellenic Club,’ someone else said.
Another person added, ‘A disgusting individual! Good to see the club doing the right thing!.’
In another, he smiled while sitting on the hind end of a dying African buffalo (pictured)
Mr Haridemos did not deny posting the photos, he said through his lawyer, but urged all the hunting safaris were legal.
‘This is a regulated activity, which is undertaken in accordance with licences and quotas issued by the relevant country, and is conducted in a manner that does not pose a threat to any endangered species,’ his solicitor told The Canberra Times.
Nicola Beynon who works at the branch of Humane Society International condemned trophy hunting.
‘Most people are repulsed by trophy hunters posing for pictures with slaughtered wildlife,’ she said.
The online photos were removed after Mr Haridemos was questioned by Fairfax.