Packham says ponies are ruining New Forest

WILDLIFE TV presenter Chris Packham, whose impassioned criticisms of hunting and grouse shooting have infuriated the Countryside Alliance and country sportsman and cricket legend Sir Ian Botham, has now become embroiled in a war of words on his own doorstep.

The crusading naturalist is at loggerheads with Lord Teynham’s eldest son and heir, David RoperCurzon, after alleging that the New Forest in Hampshire — where he shares a thatched cottage with his miniature black poodle, Scratchy — is being ruined by freeroaming ponies.

The outburst has riled acclaimed sculptor Roper-Curzon, whose family have lived at Pylewell Park for five generations on the edge of the New Forest, where ‘ commoners’ — as locals are known — have the age-old right to let livestock wander at will.

‘Understandably — and judging by the reactions of some — being lectured by an outsider can become irritating, to say the least,’ RoperCurzon tells me. ‘ Mr Packham is entitled to his opinions, but no wonder he has ruffled a few feathers.’ Packham, 57, who grew up in a Southampton suburb, claims the forest is being overgrazed and has demanded a cap on animal numbers, alleging that bark is being stripped ‘ from ancient beech trees and holly trees’.

One local councillor is accusing Packham of appearing ‘unwilling to allow facts and the opinions of genuine experts to get in the way of his own sensationalist self-promotion’.

Roper- Curzon, 53, points out that the ancient tradition of granting commoners grazing rights is critical to the New Forest’s unique character.

‘The ponies have special status,’ he adds, ‘ and contribute to safeguarding the ever evolving ecology of the forest. As is often the case, such matters are better understood by the local community.’

The Commoners’ Defence Association says that it is ‘deeply upsetting that anyone would use their celebrity status to undermine everything that is being achieved’.

Perhaps the urbane Roper-Curzon can arrange a peace conference. ‘I’ve met Chris Packham briefly at Pylewell, in connection with “Dogstival”, a new festival for dogs and dog-lovers,’ he explains. ‘ He’s headlining it here on May 18.’

Packham is currently in more distant pastures — Gambia.