Wildlife Crime in Scotland 2024

Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC): Veterinary Services

SRUC Veterinary Services is a division of Scotland's Rural College (SRUC). While not a government agency, the work of the Veterinary Services team includes post mortem examinations on wild birds (under the Wild Bird Disease Surveillance budget) and on wild mammals (under the Animal Welfare budget), both of which are funded by Advisory Activity grants-in-aid from the Scottish Government.

Carcases may be submitted for examination due to the suspicion of a potential wildlife crime. These come predominantly from Police Scotland, with substantial contributions from the RSPB and the Scottish SPCA. Small numbers of carcases come from other conservation or wildlife organisations, or from members of the public. Where a wildlife crime is suspected following examination of a carcase submitted by non-law-enforcement agencies, the police are notified, to allow investigation to proceed.

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

Bird cases submitted as suspected wildlife crimes outnumbered mammal cases every year.
Figure 12: cases submitted to SRUC Veterinary Services where wildlife crime was suspected, and those identified as being crime related after examination, 2019-20 to 2023-24.

Seventy-two cases were submitted to the SRUC as suspected wildlife crimes in 2023-24. This is the lowest in the five-year period from 2019-20 to 2023-24, but it should be noted that avian influenza is likely to have had an impact, as described at the end of this section. In 2023-24, 44 bird cases were submitted, of which 32% (14 cases) were identified on further investigation* as crime related. Of the 28 mammal cases investigated, 46% were identified on further investigation as crime related (13 cases).

*Further investigation may refer to post-mortem examination, radiography, toxicology, and any other tests appropriate to the carcase and investigation.

For mammal cases where potential criminality was still suspected after postmortem examination, shooting was the most common cause (rifle, shotgun or crossbow bolt), then attack by a dog or dogs. Poison and snaring were also represented by one case each. The most common cause of death where no criminality was suspected after examination was road traffic collision. Submissions covered a range of species including squirrels, hares, otters, beavers, badgers, hedgehogs, foxes, and deer.

For avian (bird) cases, shooting (by shotgun, arrow, catapult, or air gun) was the most common cause of death or injury where criminality was still suspected following examination. This was followed by blunt trauma directly caused by a human; a poisoning and an attack by a dog were also seen. Non-suspicious causes of death were most commonly window/building collisions, avian influenza, starvation or road traffic collisions, followed by suspected eagle-on-eagle territorial disputes, collision with powerlines or a wind turbine, and infection. The range of species submitted included birds of prey, songbirds, swans, waders, gulls, geese, ducks, and corvids.

When providing data, SRUC noted that the continuing spread of avian influenza during this period is likely to have affected the numbers, locations, and diagnostic success pertaining to wildlife carcase submissions. This may also affect any comparison to annual reports compiled before avian influenza was commonly present in Scotland.

For example, members of the public may now be more aware of publicity encouraging them to report wild bird carcases to the DEFRA helpline for avian influenza surveillance. These carcases are not included in this data, as they are not submitted for investigation of a suspected wildlife crime. In addition, many bird species (and a small number of mammal species) which are submitted through an enforcement agency for investigation are still required to undergo influenza testing (with carcases stored pending a negative result) before a post mortem can proceed. Any carcase which tested positive for avian influenza could not be subjected to a full post mortem examination.

Further detail: see Table 31 of the supporting documents for information on cases submitted to the SRUC as suspected wildlife crimes by year and offence category.