Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service's (COPFS) dedicated Wildlife and Environmental Crime Unit (WECU) has been in operation since 15 August 2011. WECU investigates and manages the prosecution of all cases involving crimes against wildlife. Figures in this section are at case level and it should be noted that one case may relate to multiple offences and/or people. Notes and definitions on the COPFS data are available in the data sources and methodology document.

Data in this section are presented up to 2023-24.

Fish poaching was the most common category of wildlife crime cases received by COPFS in 2023-24.
Figure 3: number of wildlife crime cases received by COPFS in 2023-24, by offence type.

Out of a total of 72 wildlife crime cases received by COPFS in 2023-24, Figure 3 shows that the highest number of cases received were relating to fish poaching (27), followed by birds (16) and other wildlife offences (11). Other wildlife offences included:

• Disturbance of dolphins
• Killing or injuring rabbits and a grey squirrel
• Snaring offences
• Possession of an unregistered or ringed bird
• Offences under The Control of Trade in Endangered Species Regulations 2018
• Offences under The Ivory Act 2018

Further information about cases received in 2023-24 is as follows:

• Three cases (4% of cases received) involved activity targeting hares or rabbits. 
• Six cases (8% of cases received) related to circumstances involving badgers.
• Six cases (8% of cases received) involved hunting with dogs. Three of those cases related to allegations of hare coursing, whilst the others involved using a dog to hunt a fox, a deer, a swan, a heron and a grey partridge. 
• Four cases (6% of cases received) involved the use of traps or snares.

The number of cases (72) in 2023-24 is similar to the average over the previous four years (74). Of those 72 cases, 6 were received by COPFS from reports submitted by the Scottish SPCA.

The outcomes of the cases for 2023-24 are shown in Figure 4, below. Statistics on outcomes for 2019-20 to 2023-24 are available in Table 6 of the supporting documents. Table 7 gives the outcomes of those cases reported by the River Tweed Commission and Scottish SPCA.

Of the 72 cases received in 2023-24, 30 were dealt with by an alternative to prosecution (42%) and 25 cases were prosecuted (35%).
Figure 4: outcomes of all wildlife crime cases reported to COPFS in 2023-24.

The decision to prosecute in court was undertaken in 25 cases (35% of cases received).  Of these:

• Sixteen cases resulted in a conviction (64% of cases prosecuted) *
• Seven cases resulted in acquittal (28% of cases prosecuted)  
• Two cases are pending trial at the time of writing (8% of cases prosecuted)

*In some cases this reflects the verdict following trial and in others, the result of a plea adjustment.

Thirty cases were dealt with by an alternative to prosecution (42% of cases received). Warning letters were issued in the majority of those cases.  Fiscal fines were issued in others or the case was referred to the Scottish Children’s Reporter.

No action was taken in 16 cases (22% of cases received). In the majority of those cases, no action was taken for legal reasons, namely that there was insufficient evidence to permit proceedings.

Further detail: see Tables 4 to 17 of the supporting documents. This includes: cases received and case outcomes by source and offence categories (Tables 4 to 7); case outcomes by offence categories (Tables 8 to 16); and notable cases reported by COPFS (Table 17).