Rock legend Brian May’s wildlife charity has reached out to television presenter Jeremy Clarkson following news that his Cotswolds farm has been struck by bovine tuberculosis.
The Save Me Trust, which May established alongside Anne Brummer in 2009, made contact with Clarkson several days after he revealed the disease outbreak affecting his agricultural operation.
May has long campaigned against the government-sanctioned culls, whilst Clarkson has previously supported measures to control TB in cattle herds.
The charity is understood to have confirmed to the Express that Brummer personally initiated communication with the former Top Gear presenter after learning about the TB situation at his farm.
This outreach marks a notable development given the pair’s historical differences over the controversial practice of badger culling.
May has long campaigned against the government-sanctioned culls, whilst Clarkson has previously supported measures to control TB in cattle herds.
The supportive gesture comes soon after Clarkson disclosed that bovine tuberculosis has been detected at his Oxfordshire farm.
“Bad news from Diddly Squat. We’ve gone down with TB. Everyone here is absolutely devastated,” Clarkson wrote in his post at the end of July.
The discovery of the disease at Diddly Squat Farm, which has become widely known through the Amazon Prime series Clarkson’s Farm, represents a significant setback for the agricultural operation.
Clarkson emphasised that the entire team at the farm has been deeply affected by the diagnosis.
He later followed up with another post that read: “I should clear this up really. It’s Bovine TB that we have. It doesn’t affect people, just our poor cows.”
The timing of the charity’s contact comes as the Save Me Trust published fresh research findings on social media, accompanied by a photograph of May and Brummer together.
Their statement, titled The TB Truth Journey: What a Decade Has Taught Us, presents conclusions from their investigation into the role of badgers in spreading tuberculosis to livestock.
The charity’s Instagram post outlined their scientific approach to examining disease transmission patterns over the past decade.
Their research methodology involved analysing field data and tracking infection rates across different regions.
“Over the past ten years, we’ve followed the science, the data, and the reality on the ground — and the truth is clear: if badgers play any role in the transmission of bovine TB, it is negligible to zero,” the trust stated.
This assertion directly challenges the scientific basis for badger culling programmes that have operated across England since 2013.
The trust’s findings contradict the rationale behind government-sanctioned culls aimed at reducing TB transmission between wildlife and farm animals.
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The charity’s conclusions suggest that resources currently directed towards badger culling could be better utilised elsewhere.