Vet who sparked outrage posing with big game animals he shot DIES in 100ft fall while hunting wild birds in Italy 

  • Luciano Ponzetto, 55, became infamous last year for snaps of his trophy kills
  • Vet protested his innocence, but people sent him death threats and hate mail
  • He slipped on some ice on a bird hunt in Turin, Italy, and plunged to his death
  • Ponzetto argued he could be a vet and hunt without having split loyalties 

By Gareth Davies For Mailonline

Published: 06:12 EST, 13 December 2016 | Updated: 10:07 EST, 13 December 2016

A vet who posed next to a lion he had killed has plunged to his death after slipping on ice and falling 100ft down a ravine on another shoot.

Luciano Ponzetto, 55, became infamous last year after sharing snaps of his trophy kills. 

Despite protesting his innocence, people sent him death threats and hate mail, and he died hunting birds to eat in hills above the Italian city of Turin. 

A vet who posed next to a lion he had killed has plunged to his death after slipping on ice and falling 100ft down a ravine on another shoot

Luciano Ponzetto, 55, became infamous last year after sharing snaps of his trophy kills

According to The Sun, he died after falling into the ravine in the Colle delle Oche in Italy where he was hunting with friends.  

An Italian police spokesman told the paper: 'We were called by the mountain rescue services who had been alerted to the incident by someone who was out with him.

'His body was recovered by helicopter and taken to a local hospital.

'It looks like he slipped and fell when he was out hunting.

'He died instantly and there was nothing that could be done.'

When the pictures of Ponzetto and the lion appeared online, it was compared to the iconic case of Cecil the Lion who was shot dead by an American dentist in Zimbabwe in 2015. 

There has been little sympathy online among people reacting to the news of the Italian vet's death with some saying it was 'karma' that he had died on a hunt.  

Despite protesting his innocence, people sent him death threats and hate mail, and he died hunting birds to eat in hills above the Italian city of Turin

In November last year, Ponzetto's spokesman said he would take legal action against media that picked up on the story, saying it was ruining his reputation and claiming it was not in the public interest.   

He ran a veterinary clinic near Turin, and defended his actions by saying being a vet 'is not incompatible with hunting, either morally or professionally,' according to The Local. 

A hate campaign raged against him when he was recognised in a photo posted on the Facebook page of Safari Italian Chapter, the group that organised the safari in Tanzania.  

He is seen pictured with a number of different dead animals including a hog, deer and leopard.  

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