5.7.14 Adam *Not Much* News & Info

Note: Kerry Ellis included her version of the song on her debut album Anthems. She has also performed the song both on Anthems: The Tour (2011) and at various events with Brian May.

It was the hedghogs ...

So how did he end up campaigning for our wildlife? "Well, you know how it is. You spend most your time doing what life has presented to you, in my case Queen. But one day, although I'm still involved in music, I found I had the time, the space and the means to do other things, things that I also cared about."

What inspired him to found Save Me, a "non-profit organisation that speaks out about the cruel minority in our society that feels it is their right to persecute and torture wildlife for sport"? Was it foxhunting, badgers ... ? No, it was ...

"Hedgehogs."

So, from studying the universe he came right back down to earth, to fight for something that, though small, was in his view as important in the scheme of things as a star ... or a galaxy.

"I read one day about the hedgehogs on the Scottish Uist islands, and the plans to kill them all because they were eating the eggs of the ground-nesting birds. How could people kill them like that? Didn't they matter too?

"I went up to Scotland and got involved with the campaign to save the hedgehogs. And the Scottish RSPCA was one of the organisations in favour of the killing! Can you believe that?

"We persuaded them to relocate the hedgehogs to the mainland. After all, hedgehogs are in trouble here - there are fewer and fewer of them and we need them.

"And when we achieved that relocation, the feeling - the realisation that I could help make a difference - that was wonderful! But it also made me see how easy it is for people to see killing inconvenient wildlife as the answer to a problem, when the animals themselves have no voice. And Save Me was born."

Fighting the badger cull

It was only natural that Save Me would take up the cause of the badgers when the proposed culls threatened another of our ancient and loved members of the British landscape - as did many other organisations devoted to the care of animals and our wildlife.

Not that it's unconcerned about cattle farmers whose herds are afflicted with BTB. As Save Me makes clear on its website: "Save Me fully sympathises with farmers who are affected by this awful disease but it does not believe, based on scientific evidence, the solution lies in the culling of badgers. It believes culling could make matters worse."

Next Team Badger was formed, "a coalition of national, local and grass roots animal and wildlife welfare organisations representing millions of compassionate citizens" who "reject the government's policy of badger culling as unsound, unscientific and unacceptable."

With Brian at its head the plight of the badger - and the unscientific dishonesty of the culls - remained in the news. Through the whole sorry, cruel process of the culls, Team Badger and its members called government ministers to account, questioned their 'facts' and kept the public informed.

Cull ineffective, failed humaneness test

It came as no surprise to Brian when details from the Independent Expert Panel's report were released, saying that the culls had failed both in their humaneness and effectiveness.

At the same time the Humane Society International UK released facts from Natural England, showing that the monitoring of the guns had been poor to say the least; that badgers were taking too long to die, and had to be shot more than once.

"Well, we knew it was going to be bad. Yes, we did, and it was no comfort to say 'I told you so', when so many creatures had taken too long to die painful, horrible deaths." But even then he managed to laugh at the silly excuses and justifications put forward by the pro-cull people.

"I was interviewed by the BBC that morning, and found myself arguing with a farmer and a vet - how can a vet excuse what had been done? I talked about the fact that it was likely that the culls would contribute to an increase of BTB because of the perturbation effect - infected badgers fleeing and taking the disease to another area. I was told it was the protesters who had caused the perturbation!

"And the reason for the poor marksmanship - well, protesters were to blame for that too! How could anyone fire a clean shot when he was being watched by a protester? Not that any protesters were allowed to get that close to the guns."

The conversation turned to badger baiting, foxhunting - "the Tories will do their best to repeal that law!" - and the dreaded terrier men attached to the hunts, who send their dogs underground to flush out or attack foxes gone to ground, and perform other even less salubrious tasks.

"They're all linked, all part of 'country pursuits' - or 'blood sports' to name it more honestly. The badgers aren't safe, which was one reason for creating BACVI."

Link to entire article: www.theecologist.org/Interviews/2311309/brian_may_from_rock_star_to_badger_champion.html