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BBC Under Fire for Damaging Salt Pans

Posted on: Sunday, 8 July 2007, 09:16 CDT

Conservationists are furious with the BBC's Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson for scarring a national park in Botswana.

The host and his team of drivers allegedly left numerous tracks when they drove three cars and quad bikes across the fragile salt pans, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

They have been accused of skirting guidelines that call for vehicles to drive single file along the Makgadikgadi salt pans and reportedly raced wildly through the fragile area, leaving tracks that will last for decades, the newspaper said.

The Makgadikgadi salt pans are the largest remaining salt pans in the world, covering nearly 23,000 miles of what used to be a lake.

The BBC said experts it consulted said the taping would not harm the fragile ecosystem, but a tour guide told The Telegraph he tried to warn the Top Gear crew they were damaging the pans.

They said they were making a big film for the BBC and ignored me, the guide said. They had quad bikes and three cars and they were driving all over the place, making marks on the salt pans.

Conservationists also voiced concern that Clarkson's antics, which are seen by millions of TV viewers each week, will lure copycats to the home of flamingos, wildebeest and zebras.

Source: United Press International

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