In a recent interview with the Guardian, the astrophysicist, animal rights activist and Queen guitarist Brian May expressed concern over the imminent badger culls that are set to take place in Britain this summer, despite overwhelming disapproval from the public, Parliament and scientific community.
"It's kind appealing, 'We're doing something, we're taking action, it's a kind of sexy thing, yeah, we'll go and kill the badgers,'" said May. "But this is a tragedy for Britain's wildlife and it's a tragedy for the farmers as well, I believe, because I think it will drive a wedge between the farming community and the general public, who actually will not stand for this."
100 Greatest Guitarists: Brian May
May called the government-mandated population reduction "very, very sad" and added the move won't help the farmers fight the spread of bovine tuberculosis, which the badgers have been blamed for.
"Something has to be done," added May. "This is a terrible disease, very debilitating for the industry and the animals themselves, but this is not the way. The way forward is vaccination of the badgers and of the cows. . . That's what we'll be pushing for as an alternative to this cull of thousands of mainly healthy animals." You can watch the entire interview below.
Along with his activism, May is reportedly working on a "riffs album" with Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi that will allow fans to create their own songs around the musicians' unused material.
