As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Sunday 24 May 2015

I'll sue RSPB for libel after charity's incompetence and misleading ads, says former cricketer Sir Ian Botham

Sir Ian has threatened legal action against the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Claims the 126-year-old organisation has accused him of illegally killing birds of prey
Six months ago in Mail on Sunday, he launched a sweeping attack on teh leadership of the RSPB, saying it was a 'dictatorship' 


PUBLISHED: 00:40, 24 May 2015 | UPDATED: 12:23, 24 May 2015

Sir Ian Botham has threatened legal action against the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, claiming the 126-year-old organisation has accused him of illegally killing birds of prey.

Lawyers for the England cricket legend sent a stern letter to the charity after comments it made on the BBC last week about him. Sir Ian, who fronts You Forgot The Birds – a grassroots campaign by farmers and conservationists who want to force RSPB reform – says the claims are completely untrue.

'I was more than a little annoyed when the RSPB accused me on the BBC of illegally killing birds of prey,' he writes in today's Mail on Sunday. 

'Have they heard of the law of libel? I don't take kindly to being lied about and my lawyers – who make me look like a pussycat – have written to the RSPB.'

Six months ago in The Mail on Sunday, Sir Ian launched a sweeping attack on the leadership of the RSPB, saying it was a 'dictatorship' that had betrayed bird lovers and the species it was meant to save.

In the past couple of weeks the 59-year-old has renewed his battle against the charity, in particular fighting its demands for the licensing of grouse moors.

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