SIR — You don't need to be a veggie-munching anti-hunt type to abhor what happened to the "Exmoor Emperor".

For me, the words wildlife, money and trophy sit very uncomfortably in the same sentence, and if you then add puppy farms, factory farming, circuses with animals and bull-fighting, you pretty much encapsulate the pejorative views I hold concerning animals and financial exploitation.

I suspect most animal-loving Brits would sit in this same camp.

I am not biased by prejudice, rather my views are informed and rational, and this underpins my thinking concerning the Emperor's death.

Views shared, I suspect, by the vast majority of the population, thus explaining the high level of national publicity regarding the Emperor, a popularised and much admired stag gunned down in his prime during the spectacular rutting season, and seemingly for money.

Not nice. And not nice for our tourist industry either.

Tim Holmes,