Newts and Crocs: Ed Sheeran and his battles with nature

This week, Ed Sheeran has found himself in the epicentre of an ancient fight –
between man and beast.

From endangering hundreds of newts to facing a giant crocodile in Australia, it seems the singer is trying his best to dethrone Justin Timberlake as pop music’s ‘Man Of The Woods’.

It all started earlier this week when The Sun reported that Sheeran’s plans to build a 14-metre-tall chapel in the garden of his Suffolk mansion could endanger the plot’s previous tenants.

All the singer wanted was a beautiful place to marry his fiancee Cherry Seaborn, but the move put the incumbent wildlife at risk, prompting villagers nearby to raise planning objections.

One called his plans “a total disregard to the local ecology”.

It turned out Sheeran’s piece of land was home to one of the largest populations of great crested newts in the area.

“It would appear that the applicant – in his desire to satisfy the needs of the spiritual world – continues to overlook his obligations to the living world, particularly that of protected species,” wrote one objector.

There has still been no word from Suffolk Coastal District Council on whether the plans to build the Saxon-styled chapel will be allowed to go ahead.

In the meantime, Sheeran paid a visit to Australia, where he decided to face one of the country’s most dangerous predators – the saltwater crocodile.

In a stunt described on social media as “Steve Irwinesque”, Sheeran visited the Australia Zoo, where he fed a giant crocodile called Greg.

Greg is seen in a photo jumping in Sheeran’s direction, in a move the star dubbed “Crocodile salt bae” – referencing the famous internet meme of a Turkish chef delicately sprinkling salt over meat.

Founded in the 1990s by Irwin, who was nicknamed ‘The Crocodile Hunter’, the zoo said it was “so glad” Sheeran had visited.

“He is officially a Wildlife Warrior,” the zoo wrote.

That he is.

(c) Sky News 2018: Newts and Crocs: Ed Sheeran and his battles with nature