Press Release – 4th January 2011 http://www.wildlifeaid.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=541&Itemid=1
A leading animal welfare champion is warning against “hysteria and sensationalism” in the media, following the publication of reports and photos in the press of a large (4ft-long) fox caught and killed in Maidstone, Kent.
Environmentalist Simon Cowell MBE, who presents the popular TV documentary series Wildlife SOS and runs a wildlife rescue charity in Leatherhead, Surrey, believes that “these lurid press reports are encouraging people to think of foxes as a menace”
The stories, he fears, will play into the hands of those who seek to justify and condone cruelty to wild animals, including “bloodsports”
“There is a lot of exaggeration, histeria and sensationalism in the media at the best of times, but where foxes are concerned the reporting seems to become even more extreme and ill-informed”, says Simon.
“It is actually very unusual indeed for a fox to attack a cat or dog, let alone a person, but reading some of the newspapers one could be forgiven for assuming that gangs of foxes are rampaging around the country, raiding people’s homes and savaging their children and pets!”
Cowell points out that the phenomenon of the “urban fox” has only come about because so much of Britain’s countryside has been concreted over and wildlife habitat has been lost to development, forcing foxes to venture into urban areas in their search for food.
“The need to survive drives foxes and other wild animals into the towns. It is urban areas that provide the richest pickings for wildlife in their search of easier sources of food. We cannot blame these poor creatures for intruding into our neighbourhoods when it is Man’s fault that the foxes’ natural habitats and food sources have been so chronically depleted.”
The environmentalist is urging greater respect for wildlife and nature. “Is it too much to hope that journalists and editors will behave responsibly and sensitively when writing or broadcasting stories about wild animals?
“I am a professional broadcaster myself, and a member of the Institute of Journalists, but I am constantly horrified and dismayed by those elements of the media who continue not to let the facts get in the way of a good story! Sensationlist reporting does nobody any good.”
In his latest book, The Owl with the Golden Heart, Simon Cowell tries to see the challenges faced by Britain’s wildlife, and their complicated relationship with Man, from the animals’ own perspective.
Series 10 of Wildlife SOS airs in the UK later this year. The very first episodes of Wildlife SOS were screened 15 years ago, making it the longest-running documentary series of its kind. Programmes cover the work of Wildlife Aid in the UK as well as that of other wildlife charities around the world.
Wildlife Aid was established in 1980 to rescue and care for sick, injured and orphaned wild animals. In the past three decades the charity has saved the lives of more than 150,000 animals, and returned them to the wild.
For information on wildlife protection and the work of Simon’s charity, Wildlife Aid, please visit the website www.wildlifeaid.org.uk.
