Wildlife Crime in Scotland 2024

Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA): Wildlife DNA Forensic Unit

SASA is a division of the Scottish Government’s Agriculture and Rural Economy directorate based in Edinburgh. One of its principal functions is to provide analytical and forensic services in the investigation of wildlife crime. The Wildlife DNA Forensic (WDF) unit at SASA specialises in analysing animal DNA recovered during wildlife crime investigations, to identify the species from traces like blood or feathers, or to link suspects to crime scenes using animal DNA profiling.

Data in this section are presented up to 2024-25.

Raptor persecution was generally the largest category of cases received by the Wildlife DNA Forensic Unit.
Figure 9: Scottish cases submitted to the Wildlife DNA Forensic Unit by type, 2019-20 to 2024-25.

Figure 9 shows that 2023-24 had the lowest number of Scottish cases received by the WDF unit in the last six years (8), whereas 2024-25 had the highest (27). These numbers show the extremes of case numbers, but raptor persecution is generally the largest category in any given year.

Due to the time-lag between reporting and prosecution it is often not possible to provide outcomes of investigations within the current period. However, a notable case which concluded in 2023-24 and is reflected in the forensic data for the preceding two years was Operation Tantallon, a multi-partner targeted operation tackling the illegal taking and trade of wild peregrine falcons. The WDF unit carried out DNA analysis on peregrine falcons which were claimed to have been bred in captivity but were found to have been stolen from the wild, and the accused pled guilty to these offences in December 2023. A database of DNA profiles from wild peregrines was initiated by this investigation with funding from Defra. SASA expressed gratitude to the Scottish Raptor Study Group volunteers who, under license, have collected samples for this database which will continue to support investigations into illegal theft of wild Peregrines and help protect our wild birds.

Another notable case involved the first application of a newly established DNA profiling method at SASA to be applied to roe deer coursing investigations. In this case, the DNA profile produced from bone fragments recovered from a suspected deer coursing scene could be matched to a roe deer carcass in the suspects larder. Combined with veterinary pathology evidence, this demonstrated a link between the suspect and a specific roe deer coursing incident and led to the first conviction under the new Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 in February 2025.

Further detail: see Table 28 of the supporting documents for information on Scottish Wildlife DNA Forensic Unit cases by year and offence category.