Pressure builds on Goldsmith in wild animals row
MILLIONAIRE farmer Ben Goldsmith was under rising pressure over his Government post last night after he allegedly broke rules by releasing deer and wild boar.
The financier has been criticised by a Tory MP and the Countryside Alliance campaign group after a Mail investigation exposed the breaches on Saturday.
Mr Goldsmith had upset neighbouring farmers by allowing red deer from the herd introduced to his Somerset farm to escape.
He also confirmed that he had been feeding wild boar on his farm although he denied releasing them, saying the animals had already been living locally.
Simon Hoare, Tory MP for North Dorset, said: ‘I’m aware of this via friends affected by the rampaging boar on their land. If hobby farmers want to play they must secure their land as their hobby affects the livelihoods of others.’
Tim Bonner, of the Countryside Alliance, said yesterday: ‘If you want an example of why rewilding is an increasingly toxic brand in the countryside, there couldn’t be a much better example than this.
‘Ben wants to make a difference, but imposing reintroductions will set back wildlife recovery, not help it.’
The official post held by Mr Goldsmith, 39, is as a nonexecutive board member at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
He was appointed to the job at Defra, which regulates farming and the countryside, in March 2018.
Mr Goldsmith admitted to the Mail that he had ‘bull***ted’ in claiming the released deer had been rounded up when he knew they remained at large.
The animals had escaped because he failed to pen them in adequately, he added.
‘I didn’t have time to build a proper fence and by the morning they had gone,’ he said. ‘I am so, so sorry. It’s a silly,
Police probe farming official Goldsmith in ‘wild animals’ storm From Saturday’s Mail
stupid mistake.’ Police are investigating the incidents. Deer can damage farmland and wild boar can introduce disease to pigs.
Mr Goldsmith’s brother is environment and Foreign Office minister Zac Goldsmith, who was elevated to the House of Lords this year after losing his seat in the Commons at the last election.
Ben, the youngest son of the late tycoon Sir James Goldsmith, is an enthusiast backer of rewilding.
This involves bringing animals back to areas where they have disappeared and returning areas to nature without human intervention.
He has said he was an ‘easy target’ as he champions rewilding but insists he did not release the wild boar.