Halal Slaughter, Bees, Hedgehogs

New research is being unveiled at a livestock seminar today that could make pre-stun slaughter more acceptable to Muslim consumers. Under religious rules animals must be alive when their throats are cut, and there have been fears that pre-stunning itself can kill them. This makes the meat unacceptable. But research carried out for Eblex shows in a survey of 500 sheep and lambs, pre-stunning this was not the case.
The organisation hopes the results will inform the ongoing debate over halal meat.

BBC environment correspondent Claire Marshall has been with The Warwickshire Wildlife Trust at their new Solihull improvement area in Elmden to find out how they are trying to boost the dwindling number of hedgehogs.

And new research from scientists at Plymouth University shows bumble bees are ending up feeding on flowers by the road side of hedges rather than on the field-side of the boundary. That's because fertilizers used on crops also encourage more grasses and non flowering plants, so bees have little to feed on.

Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Sally Challoner.