Wildlife crime in Scotland: annual report 2021

The tenth wildlife crime annual report, with new data from the financial year 2020 to 2021.


4. Wildlife crime priority areas

Wildlife crime priorities are set at UK level by the Wildlife Crime Tasking and Co-ordinating Group. The group's membership includes the Police, the Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime (PAW), National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC).

The priorities remained unchanged in 2020-21:

  • Badger persecution;
  • Bat persecution;
  • Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES);
  • Freshwater pearl mussels;
  • Poaching (including deer poaching, hare coursing, fish poaching);
  • Raptor persecution.

Priority groups on poaching and coursing, and freshwater pearl mussel crime, continue to operate in Scotland, as well as the PAW Scotland Raptor Group (formerly the Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group).

The following sections provide more detail on each of these priority areas, along with the relevant data. The additional sections from the 2014 report on the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 and Trapping and Snaring continue to be included.

NatureScot have provided a 'Health of Species' appraisal in Appendix 4, for those priority species that fall within NatureScots remit: badger, bats, freshwater pearl mussels, deer, brown hare and key raptors. This appraisal is intended to give an overview of current population trends, factors affecting the health of the species and the relative impact of wildlife crime on the conservation status and is in response to an Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee request for this contextual information.

Police Scotland disaggregated data

The data shown in Figure 1, table 15 and table 16 has been presented by Police Scotland. Data in Table 1 is sourced from the Scottish Government Recorded Crime figures and care should be taken in comparing those figures with the disaggregated figures provided in this section.

Table 15: Police Scotland offence data from 2016-17 to 2020-21
Type of crime Number of offences
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
Badger persecution 6 15 16 11 14
Bat persecution 0 1 0 4 8
CITES 6 2 1 0 1
Freshwater pearl mussels 2 1 1 2 0
Poaching and coursing 115 127 69 109 212
Raptor persecution 11 24 17 25 11
Not related to Priority Area 91 63 59 45 59
No crime recorded 0 2 0 0 0
Total 231 235 163 196 305
Additional breakdowns
Trapping/snaring (all species)* 15 15 28 28 22
Fox hunting 2 6 2 2 0
Hunting with dogs (all Protection Wild Mammals Act offences) 22 41 22 38 85
Total 39 62 52 68 107

Source: Police Scotland

*These offences may be duplicated elsewhere, e.g. illegal killing of a badger by snaring would be recorded in 'Badger persecution' and 'Trapping/snaring'

Table 16: Quarterly Police Scotland data for 2020-2021
Type of crime Number of offences
Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec Jan-Mar
Badger persecution 7 3 1 3
Bat persecution 2 2 4 0
CITES 0 0 1 0
Freshwater pearl mussels 0 0 0 0
Poaching and coursing 95 46 49 22
Raptor persecution 0 5 4 2
Not related to Priority Area 25 19 6 9
Total 129 75 65 36
Additional breakdowns
Trapping/snaring (all species)* 10 5 3 4
Fox hunting 0 0 0 0
Hunting with dogs (all Protection Wild Mammals Act offences) 35 13 21 16
Total 45 18 24 20

Source: Police Scotland

*These offences may be duplicated elsewhere, e.g. illegal killing of a badger by snaring would be recorded in 'Badger persecution' and 'Trapping/snaring'

Figure 1: Police Scotland offence data from 2016-17 to 2020-21
A barchart showing the number of wildlife crime offences recorded by Police Scotland from 2016-17 to 2020-21. Offences are categorised into the following priority areas; badger persecution, bat persecution, CITIES, fresh water pearl mussels, poaching and coursing, raptor persecution, not related to priority area, trapping/snaring (all species) and fox hunting. The barchart shows that poaching and coursing is the most commonly recorded offence over the five year period.

Source: Police Scotland

*These offences may be duplicated elsewhere, e.g. illegal killing of a badger by snaring would be recorded in 'Badger persecution' and 'Trapping/snaring'

Badger persecution

All badgers in Scotland are protected by law, but they are sometimes still illegally targeted by those who see them as a pest or for the purposes of illegal animal fights.

Reckless or intentional damage, destruction and interference to badger setts (including sett blocking) is an offence which may arise from unlicensed forestry, agricultural or construction works.

Recorded crimes

Table 17 and figure 2 show that there were 14 offences relating to badger persecution recorded by Police Scotland in 2020-21, compared to 11 in 2019-20. Table 18 provides a quarterly breakdown of offences.

Table 17: Badger offences 2020-21 by Police Scotland Division
Police Division Type of offence Number of offences
North East Digging, damage and obstruction to sett 4
Tayside Digging, damage and obstruction to sett 1
Cruelty/Shooting 1
Highlands and Islands Cruelty/Shooting 4
Digging, damage and obstruction to sett 2
Lanarkshire Killing* 3
Digging, damage and obstruction to sett 1
Dumfries and Galloway Cruelty/Shooting 1
Total 14

Source: Police Scotland

*includes sett trap

Table 18: Badger offences 2020-21 by species and quarterly breakdown
Type of Crime Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Total
Digging, damage and obstruction to sett 5 1 0 2 8
Killing 1 2 0 0 3
Disturbance 1 0 1 1 3
Total 7 3 1 3 14

Source: Police Scotland

Figure 2: Police Scotland offence data for badger persecution 2016-17 to 2020-21
A barchart showing the number of badger persecution offences recorded by Police Scotland from 2016-17 to 2020-21. The barchart shows that there were 6 recorded incidents of badger persecution in 2016-17, 15 in 2017-18, 16 in 2018-19, 11 in 2019-20 and 14 in 2020-21.

Source: Police Scotland

Bat persecution

Bats and their roosts are protected by the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994), which gives strict legal protection to all species listed under Annex IV of the EU Habitats Directive – known as European Protected Species (EPS). Scotland's bat population is relatively small compared to other parts of the UK.

Bats, their breeding sites and resting places are at particular risk from development works and evidencing the presence of bats in these cases can be very challenging. Police Scotland work closely with NatureScot bat specialists in the investigation of any alleged offences.

Recorded crimes

Table 19 and figure 3 show there were eight offences involving bat persecution recorded by Police Scotland in 2020-21.

Table 19: Summary of 2020-21 bat persecution offences
Police Division Type of Offence Date
Tayside Killing Bat Dec-20
Highlands and Islands Damage and obstruction to roost (2) Sep-20
Forth Valley Damage and obstruction to roost (2) Jun-20
Forth Valley Damage and obstruction to roost (3) Oct-20

Source: Police Scotland

Figure 3: Police Scotland offence data for bat persecution 2016-17 to 2020-21
A barchart showing the number of bat persecution offences recorded by Police Scotland from 2016-17 to 2020-21. The barchart shows that recorded incidents have increased from 0 recorded incidents of bat persecution in 2016-17 to 8 in 2020-21.

Source: Police Scotland

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

CITES is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. It is an international agreement between governments, which aims to protect certain animal and plant species from over-exploitation by trade.

In Scotland and the rest of the UK, this agreement is given legal authority by the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations 1997, known as COTES.

Recorded crimes

There was one CITES-related offence recorded by Police Scotland in 2020-21. This involved the selling of a leopard skin handbag in Tayside.

Figure 4: Police Scotland offence data for CITES 2016-17 to 2020-21
A barchart showing the number of CITIES offences recorded by Police Scotland from 2016-17 to 2020-21. The barchart shows that recorded incidents have decreased from 6 recorded CITIES offences in 2016-17 to 1 in 2020-21.

Source: Police Scotland

Freshwater Pearl Mussels

Scotland supports several of the largest remaining populations of freshwater pearl mussels (FWPM) in the world some of which continue to be damaged by criminal activity. Pearl fishing continues in Scotland, almost uniquely within Europe. FWPM are also threatened by unlawful river engineering and pollution.

Recorded crimes

There were no recorded offences in relation to FWPM during 2020-21.

Table 19: Summary of 2020-21 FWPM offences

N/A – no recorded offences in 2020-21

Figure 5: Police Scotland offence data for freshwater pearl mussels for 2016-17 to 2020-21
A barchart showing the number of fresh water pearl mussel offences recorded by Police Scotland from 2016-17 to 2020-21. The barchart shows that recorded incidents have remained steady over the 5 year period with 2 recorded fresh water pearl mussel offences in 2016-17 and 0 offences in 2020-21.

Source: Police Scotland

Poaching and coursing

Poaching involves the taking of deer, fish or other game without permission, or using unlawful methods. Coursing is the hunting of animals with dogs. This section sets out the new Police Scotland disaggregated data in addition to providing an overview on the work of the Poaching & Coursing Priority Delivery Group.

Recorded crimes

During 2020-21, 212 poaching and coursing offences were recorded by Police Scotland, compared to 190 offences in 2019-20. Table 20 shows the North East Division has the highest number of recorded hare coursing offences at 26.

Table 21 shows that fish poaching offences are the most commonly recorded at 107 offences, while hare coursing accounted for a further 77 offences.

Table 20: Poaching and coursing offences 2019-20 by Police Scotland Division
Police Division Target Species Number of offences
Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Fish 3
Deer 2
Ayrshire Fish 3
Deer 1
Hare 1
Rabbit 1
Dumfries and Galloway Deer 2
Hare 1
Edinburgh Fish 1
Fife Fish 4
Hare 6
Deer 3
Hare/Roe Deer 1
Forth Valley Fish 22
Hare 10
Deer 1
Glasgow Fish 4
Deer 1
Highlands and Islands Deer 1
Fish 29
Hare/Rabbit 1
Lanarkshire Fish 10
Deer 2
North East Deer 6
Fish 21
Hare 26
Renfrewshire Fish 1
Deer 1
Tayside Hare 15
Deer 1
Fish 2
Rabbit 1
Lothians and Scottish Borders Deer 3
Fish 8
Hare 17
Total 212

Source: Police Scotland

Table 21: Poaching offences 2020-21 by species and quarterly breakdown
Target Species Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Total
Fish 54 29 22 2 107
Deer 8 3 8 5 24
Hare 33 14 17 13 77
Rabbit 0 0 2 0 2
Unknown 0 0 0 2 2
Total 95 46 49 22 212

Source: Police Scotland

Figure 6: Police Scotland disaggregated offence data for poaching and coursing 2016-17 to 2020-21.
A barchart showing the number of poaching and coursing offences recorded by Police Scotland from 2016-17 to 2020-21. The barchart shows that recorded incidents have increased from 115 recorded incidents of poaching and coursing in 2016-17 to 212 in 2020-21.

Source: Police Scotland

Raptor persecution

The persecution of raptors, or birds of prey, is the most high-profile type of wildlife crime in Scotland and it can have a serious impact on the populations of some raptor species at local, regional or (if carried out more widely) national level.

This section presents Police Scotland disaggregated data and SASA poisoning figures in relation to raptor offences.

Poisonings and other recorded crimes

Table 23 and figure 7 show the numbers of birds of prey confirmed by SASA as illegally poisoned between 2016-17 and 2020-21, alongside the number of incidents which resulted in these poisonings. The figures show that red kites remain (15) the most commonly recorded victim of illegal poisoning over the five year period.

Table 22: Bird of prey poisonings, Scotland, 2016-17 to 2020-21
Year Number of Birds of Prey Poisoned (By Species) Number of Incidents
Buzzard Red kite Peregrine falcon Eagle All
2016-17 3 1 - - 4 3
2017-18 3 1 - - 4 4
2018-19 1 3 1 - 5 5
2019-20 2 9 - - 11 9
2020-21 - 1 - 2* 3 3
Total 9 15 1 2 27 26

Source: Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA)

1. One incident may involve more than one bird

*1 Golden Eagle and 1 Sea Eagle in 2021 data

Figure 7: Bird of prey poisonings 2016-17 to 2020-21
A barchart showing the number of bird of prey poisonings, both in individuals birds and the number of incidents recorded by SASA from 2016-17 to 2020-21. The barchart shows that recorded incidents have remained fairly steady over the 5 year period with the exception of a spike to 11 individual poisonings recorded in 2019-20.

Source: SASA

Recorded crimes

Raptor persecution offences decreased from 25 in 2019-20 to 11 in 2020-21.

Figure 8, table 24 and table 25 show a summary of bird of prey offences and offences recorded by Police Scotland between 2016-17 and 2020-21. A direct comparison between the datasets is not possible as incidents may involve multiple offences. These figures show that the buzzard (involved in 24 of the 83 cases) was the species most commonly affected over the five year period.

Shooting is the highest recorded crime type for the period (5).

Figure 8: Recorded Bird of prey offences 2016-17 to 2020-21
A barchart showing the number of raptor persecution offences recorded by Police Scotland from 2016-17 to 2020-21. The barchart shows that there were 11 recorded incidents of raptor persecution in 2016-17, 24 in 2017-18, 17 in 2018-19, 25 in 2019-20 and 11 in 2020-21.

Source: Police Scotland

Table 23: Recorded bird of prey cases in Scotland, 2016-17 to 2020-21 by species involved
Number of Cases (by species involved)
Buzzard Hen Harrier Peregrine Red Kite Eagle Sea Eagle Golden Eagle Goshawk Merlin Osprey Red Kite & Buzzard Barn Owl Short Eared Owl Tawny Owl Unknown Sparrowhawk Various Raptors Total
2016-17 4 - 1 - - - 1 1 - 3 1 - - - - - - 11
2017-18 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 - 1 1 - 1 1 - 12 - - 24
2018-19 9 - 1 2 - - 1 1 - 1 - - - - 1 1 - 17
2019-20 8 3 - 10 1 - - - - - - - - - 6 2 - 30*
2020-21 2 1 2 1 2 - - - - - - - 1 1 - 1 1** 12
Total 24 6 5 14 4 1 3 2 1 5 1 1 2 1 19 4 1 83

Source: Police Scotland

*One buzzard offence was linked to an incident involving six buzzards.

**Tawny Owl and Buzzard in same offence

Table 24: Recorded bird of prey cases in Scotland, 2016-17 to 2020-21 by type of crime
Number of Cases (by type of crime)
Disturbance Egg Theft Other Poisoning Shooting Trapping Total
2016-17 4 1 - 3 2 1 11
2017-18 3 1 11 2 5 2 24
2018-19 - 1 3 6 2 5 17
2019-20 1 - - 13 7 4 25
2020-21 - - 2 3 5 1 11
Total 8 3 16 27 21 13 88

Source: Police Scotland

Table 25: Summary of recorded bird of prey offences in Scotland 2020-21 by Police Scotland Division
Police Division Target Species Number of offences
Dumfries and Galloway Short Eared Owl 1
Highland and Islands Buzzard 1
Red Kite 1
North East Eagle 2
Sparrowhawk 1
Renfrewshire Peregrine Falcon 1
Lanarkshire Hen Harrier 1
Various Raptors 1
Lothian and Scottish Borders Various Raptors 1
Tayside Peregrine Falcon 2
Total 11

Source: Police Scotland

Table 26 and Figure 9 shows a majority of recorded bird of prey offences occurring during July to September, with 5 of the 11 total offences.

Table 26: Bird of prey offences 2020-21 by species and quarterly breakdown
Target species Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Total
Eagle - 1 - 1 2
Buzzard - 1 - - 1
Hen Harrier - 1 - - 1
Red Kite - - 1 - 1
Sparrowhawk - 1 - - 1
Peregrine Falcon - - 1 1 2
Various Raptors - - 2 - 2
Short Eared Owl - 1 - - 1
Total 0 5 4 2 11

Source: Police Scotland

Figure 9: Bird of prey offences quarterly breakdown 2016-17 to 2020-21
A barchart showing the number of bird of prey offences recorded by Police Scotland from 2015-16 to 2020-21 broken down by quarter.

Source: Police Scotland

Table 27 provides a detailed breakdown of bird of prey incidents for the year 2020-21. One incident may involve more than one bird.

Table 27: Details of recorded bird of prey incidents in Scotland 2020-21
Species targeted Police Division Type of offence Month and year
Buzzard Highlands and Islands Shooting Aug 2020
Lothians and Scottish Borders Trapping Oct 2020
Eagle North East Poisoning Mar 2021
North East Poisoning Jul 2020
Hen Harrier Lanarkshire Shooting Jul 2020
Red Kite Highlands and Islands Poisoning Nov 2020
Sparrowhawk North East Trapping Aug 2020
Peregrine Falcon Tayside Shooting Feb 2021
Renfrewshire & Inverclyde Shooting Oct 2020
Tawny Owl Lothian and Scottish Borders Trapping Oct 2020
Short Eared Owl Dumfries and Galloway Shooting Aug 2020
Various Raptors Lanarkshire Registration Nov 2020

Source: Police Scotland

Fox Hunting and the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002

This section highlights offences under the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002. Section 1 of the 2002 Act prohibits the deliberate hunting of a wild mammal with a dog (subject to certain exceptions). The Act is most commonly used in connection with hare coursing, although it has also been used for incidents relating to foxes, deer and badgers. It does not prohibit the hunting of rabbits or rats by dogs.

Recorded crime

Table 29 and figure 10 shows from the disaggregated data from Police Scotland, The total number of "hunting with dogs offences" recorded in 2020-21 (85) increased from 2019-20 (38). Hare coursing makes up the majority of these offences (76).

Figure 10: Police Scotland offence data for fox hunting 2016-17 to 2020-21
A barchart showing the number of fox hunting offences recorded by Police Scotland from 2016-17 to 2020-21. The barchart shows that recorded incidents have remained fairly steady over the 5 year period with the exception of a spike to 6 incidents of fox hunting recorded in 2017-18.

Source: Police Scotland

Table 28*: Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 'hunting with dogs' offences 2020-21 by Police Scotland Division
Police Division Target species Number of offences
Ayrshire Rabbit 1
Hare 1
Dumfries and Galloway Hare 1
Fife Hare 6
Roe Deer 3
Unknown 1
Forth Valley Hare 10
Highlands and Islands Unknown 1
North East Hare 25
Renfrewshire & Inverclyde Hare 1
Tayside Hare 15
Deer 1
Rabbit 1
Total 85

Source: Police Scotland

*The table does not show offences under Section 18(1) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act for attempts to commit an offence in relation to killing or taking a wild mammal.

Table 29: Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 'hunting with dogs' offences 2020-21 by species and quarterly breakdown
Target species Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Total
Rabbit 2 2
Hare 33 13 17 13 76
Unknown 2 2
Roe Deer 2 1 3
Deer 1 1 2
Total 35 13 21 16 85

Source: Police Scotland

Prosecutions

For the period 2020-2021, one case was reported to COPFS containing a charge under Section 1 of the 2002 Act specifically in connection with the allegation of hunting foxes with dogs.

Trapping and Snaring

Trapping and snaring are methods which can be legitimately used for the control of some types of wildlife such as corvids, rodents or foxes. This may be for conservation purposes, to protect agricultural or sporting interests or for human health and safety reasons. However, the use of traps and snares is subject to legal restrictions designed to prevent harm to non-target species or unnecessary cruelty.

Recorded crimes

Trapping and snaring figures are not shown as part of the recorded crime statistics in Table 1 as the offence data cannot be broken down to that level. The Police Scotland disaggregated offence data in Table 15 shows that 22 offences were recorded for 2020-21, a decrease in the figures from 2019-20 (28).

Table 31 shows that the vast majority (10) of the recorded trapping and snaring offences in 2020-21 occurred between the Highlands and Islands and the Lothians and Scottish Borders divisions.

Table 30: Trapping and snaring offences 2020-21 by Police Scotland Division
Police Division Type of offence Target Species Number of offences
Ayrshire Snare Unknown 1
Dumfries and Galloway Snare Rabbit 1
Otter Trap Otter 1
Crayfish Trap Crayfish 1
Forth Valley Snare Deer 2
Highland and Islands Larsen Trap Unknown 1
Fen Trap Stoat 1
Snare Rabbit/Hare 2
Snare Stoat 1
Lanarkshire Snare Badger 3
The Lothians and Scottish Borders Snare Unknown 2
Snare Fox 1
Cage Trap Owl/Buzzard 1
Snare/Trap Rabbit 1
Tayside Snare Rabbit 1
Trap Small Birds 1
Spring Trap Unknown/Otter 1
Total 22

Source: Police Scotland

Table 31 shows offences are occurring most frequently in April – June.

Table 31: Trapping and snaring offences 2020-21 by quarterly breakdown
Type of crime Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec Jan-Mar Total
Snare 6 5 - 4 15
Fen Trap 1 - - - 1
Larsen Trap 1 - - - 1
Spring Trap 1 - - - 1
Glue trap 1 - - - 1
Crayfish Trap - - 1 - 1
Cage Trap - - 2 - 2
Total 10 5 3 4 22

Source: Police Scotland

Prosecutions

In 2020-21, 5 cases related to trapping and 0 cases relating to snaring were reported to COPFS.

Contact

Email: Robyn.McCormack@gov.scot

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