Wildlife warning by TV’s Packham

Natural is t Chr is Packham has warned tourism in Scotland will suffer if greater action is not taken to tackle wildlife crime.

The c amp a i g n e r described Scotland as “the jewel in the UK’s crown” when it came to the diversity of its wildlife.

But he said there was greater awareness of incidents of wildlife crime due to social media and predicted many bird and other animal lovers would react by staying away.

Pack ham, who has presented BBC ’s Spr ingwatch , A ut umnw at c h a nd Winterwatch, was in Stirling yesterday as part of his “bioblitz” campaign.

He said: “Scotland is the jewel in the UK’s crown, and I’m saying this as someone from England. We have a few good things down there but do we have pine martens, wildcats or golden eagles?

“I could go on and on – Scotland is a Mecca when it comes to wildlife.

“In the golden eagle you’ve got an icon that is every schoolchild’s favourite bird.

“When I was a kid, I fantasised about seeing a golden eagle and begged my parents for years to take me to Scotland.

“But it’s not just about the eagles, it’s about a sweep of wildl ife in Scotland that is incredibly valuable to it ecologically and economically and people are beginning to understand that.

“Anything that damages the reputation of its care is disastrous for Scotland.”