Chris Packham has been removed as the patron of a bird charity for becoming “too political” and doing no work for the organisation, according to reports.
Birds of prey rehabilitation charity Raptor Rescue's chairman, Malcolm Robbins said that the 62-year-old Springwatch presenter's association with them had ended over a year ago,“He was a patron, but we hadn’t heard from him in a long time, he hadn’t done anything for the charity, and we couldn’t contact him,” Mr Robbins told the Daily Telegraph.
“The other reason we decided to remove him was he started to get more and more political in his views and that didn’t sit well with our members either.”
It comes after the naturalist claimed breaking the law to campaign against climate change policies was “the ethically responsible thing to do” provided it did not hurt anyone.
He compared the activity of Just Stop Oil protesters to the suffragettes and the South African anti-apartheid movement, claiming a radical environmental flank could develop in the UK.
“The Suffragettes set fire to things, smashed a lot of glass, attacked people on the street. And in apartheid, they were blowing up trains, blowing up factories.
“What the climate movement is grudgingly having to accept is that maybe that radical flank will develop,” he told Radio Times.
On Monday, Packham filed a high court legal challenge to the UK government over its decision to weaken key climate policies.
His application called for a judicial review of the government’s decision to ditch the timetable for phasing out petrol and diesel powered cars and vans, gas boilers, off-grid fossil fuel domestic heating and minimum energy ratings for homes.Raptor Rescue rescues and rehabilitates more than 600 birds a year and runs a helpline where members of the public can report raptors in distress.Packham first became involved with Raptor Rescue in the early 1990s.
His removal, which was first reported by the Fieldsports Channel, had nothing to do with claims in his book that as a boy he once stole a kestrel from a nest, Mr Robbins said.
The Standard has contacted a representative for Chris Packham for comment.
