TV star in firing line again
CHRIS Packham has been branded an “extremist” as he goes after the game shooting industry by trying to legally stop the release of 35million non-native birds to kill this summer.
His Wild Justice campaign group is looking to sue the Government over “failures” to assess its impact but the pro-shooting lobby have blasted the telly star saying the move will cripple the economy for rural people.
The British Game Alliance has accused Packham, 58, of trying to strangle the industry.
The firm’s Tom Adams said: “Such ludicrous ideas would be the end of shooting, a community that puts £2.5billion back into the economy and creates 75,000 jobs.
“The ramifications of what Wild Justice is suggesting would be cataclysmic.
Threats
“This is another extremist attack that ignores the well-documented evidence of the benefits of shooting to conservation and the wider environment.”
Wild Justice sparked controversy by challenging environmental advisory body Natural England over general licences to kill “pest” wild bird species.
It led them to repeal three general licences, prompting anger from gamekeepers and farmers, while Packham complained about receiving death threats.
The Springwatch presenter and Wild Justice say they aim to force Environment Secretary Michael Gove to assess the impact of nonnative game birds on native wildlife.
They claim the numbers have increased 10-fold in the last 45 years and are not regulated by the Government.
Caroline Bedell, of the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, said: “It is estimated that shooting provides for 3.9 million work days being spent on conservation each year.
“Without driven shooting, the rural environment and our economy would be significantly poorer.”