Wildlife Crime Factfile
Crimes committed against animals, birds and plants are some of the most
difficult crimes for the police to detect, since they normally occur in remote
country areas where there are unlikely to be witnesses to what is taking place.
A badger was found caught in a snare and was still alive. The snare had cut into
its body and there were maggots in the cut. Since snares must by law be checked
every day, samples of the maggots were examined by entomology experts at
Stirling University who were able to say that the badger had been in the snare
for at least 4 days, and maybe much longer. The person who set the snare was
fined.
Young birds of prey, such as peregrine falcons and golden eagles, are sometimes
taken from the wild for use in falconry. Usually people who have these birds say
that they bred the birds themselves. DNA samples taken from the birds and
compared with DNA taken from their alleged parents can show whether or not
this is true.
Products made from different parts of tigers killed by poachers are sold as
‘magic’ medicines, even in the UK. The fact that poachers and others who trade
in these products can make a lot of money makes the tiger an extremely
endangered animal.
It is against the law to release wild animals and plants into the wild in Britain if
they do not exist here in the wild already. Examples are Japanese knotweed,
which can quickly spread out of control and choke out our native plants, and
American signal crayfish, which competes with out native crayfish in rivers, and
can also undermine riverbanks by burrowing into them.
Scotland has nearly half of the world population of freshwater pearl mussels, an
animal that can live for 100 years. So many people were taking the mussels from
the water and killing them to see if they contained a pearl that the law had to be
changed in 1998 to give them full protection since their risk of being made extinct
was at the same level as tigers.
Even though taking wild birds’ eggs has been illegal since at least 1954, there are
about 300 adults in the UK who still actively collect the eggs of rare birds. They
take all of the eggs in the nest, make a hole in the eggs and blow the contents out
so that they can put the eggshells in a collection which they must hide away
somewhere. A very strange hobby!
Salmon poachers sometimes put a powder called Cymag into a river so that they
can take the salmon. Cymag takes the oxygen out of the water and kills all the
salmon in the pool. It also kills all the trout, insects and plantlife in the pool
since they are all dependant on oxygen. The poachers usually gather up a few
dozen salmon and the rest float away, dead, down the river.
An extremely rare antelope called the Tibetan antelope, sometimes known as the
Chiru, lives on the borders of Tibet and China. Its coat is extremely soft and can
be spun into the finest of scarves, called shahtoosh. Poachers shoot this animal,
sometimes with machine guns, to make money from selling the skins. Those who
are involved in this illegal trade claim that the animals are not shot and that the
fine hair is collected from bushes where it has been snagged as the animal passes.
The area in which the animal lives is very cold and bushes can’t grow there!
It is illegal to set out poisoned baits in the open, yet this still occurs. Those who
set out the bait claim that it is to kill pest species, such as crows and foxes. In
the past few years, dogs, cats, golden eagles, white tailed eagles, owls, buzzards,
hedgehogs and many other species have been found dead after eating poisoned
baits.
In Scotland, a person fishing for salmon or shooting a deer without permission,
or being cruel to a domestic animal can be arrested by the police. There was no
power for the police to arrest someone who was killing wildlife or taking the eggs
of our rarest birds, which made the job of the police extremely difficult.
Thankfully this power of arrest was introduced by the Scottish Executive in
2003.
Hundreds of thousands of songbirds are taken from the wild every year to be
caged and expected to sing for their owners. Would you sing if you were in a
strange environment? This is against the law – though still occurs - in Britain,
but is still legal in countries like Malta and Cyprus.
Pest species of birds, such as crows, jackdaws, pigeons and starlings, may in
some circumstances legally be killed. This still doesn’t allow youths with air
guns to use them as target practice. There are certain conditions attached to the
control of these birds, which must be causing damage before they can be
controlled.
Wildlife crime doesn’t just relate to birds, animals and plants. Scotland has
many rare moths and butterflies that are protected and from time to time
persons are charged with taking them from the wild or having dead specimens in
a collection.
Like animals and birds, different plants have different degrees of protection.
For instance it is not an offence, with the landowner’s permission, to dig up wild
snowdrop or bluebell bulbs, or to pick the flowers. It is an offence to sell bluebell
bulbs, but not an offence to sell wild snowdrop bulbs. Even a landowner cannot
pick a rare wild plant such as a wild orchid. Wildlife law is complicated, isn’t it!
Whales, dolphins and porpoises (called cetaceans) which live off the coast of
Scotland, also have the protection of the law. As you can imagine this is difficult
for the police to enforce, though luckily few crimes are committed against them.
The main crime relates to people with speedboats and jet-skis chasing after them
and harassing them.
Crimes committed against animals, birds and plants are some of the most
difficult crimes for the police to detect, since they normally occur in remote
country areas where there are unlikely to be witnesses to what is taking place.
A badger was found caught in a snare and was still alive. The snare had cut into
its body and there were maggots in the cut. Since snares must by law be checked
every day, samples of the maggots were examined by entomology experts at
Stirling University who were able to say that the badger had been in the snare
for at least 4 days, and maybe much longer. The person who set the snare was
fined.
Young birds of prey, such as peregrine falcons and golden eagles, are sometimes
taken from the wild for use in falconry. Usually people who have these birds say
that they bred the birds themselves. DNA samples taken from the birds and
compared with DNA taken from their alleged parents can show whether or not
this is true.
Products made from different parts of tigers killed by poachers are sold as
‘magic’ medicines, even in the UK. The fact that poachers and others who trade
in these products can make a lot of money makes the tiger an extremely
endangered animal.
It is against the law to release wild animals and plants into the wild in Britain if
they do not exist here in the wild already. Examples are Japanese knotweed,
which can quickly spread out of control and choke out our native plants, and
American signal crayfish, which competes with out native crayfish in rivers, and
can also undermine riverbanks by burrowing into them.
Scotland has nearly half of the world population of freshwater pearl mussels, an
animal that can live for 100 years. So many people were taking the mussels from
the water and killing them to see if they contained a pearl that the law had to be
changed in 1998 to give them full protection since their risk of being made extinct
was at the same level as tigers.
Even though taking wild birds’ eggs has been illegal since at least 1954, there are
about 300 adults in the UK who still actively collect the eggs of rare birds. They
take all of the eggs in the nest, make a hole in the eggs and blow the contents out
so that they can put the eggshells in a collection which they must hide away
somewhere. A very strange hobby!
Salmon poachers sometimes put a powder called Cymag into a river so that they
can take the salmon. Cymag takes the oxygen out of the water and kills all the
salmon in the pool. It also kills all the trout, insects and plantlife in the pool
since they are all dependant on oxygen. The poachers usually gather up a few
dozen salmon and the rest float away, dead, down the river.
An extremely rare antelope called the Tibetan antelope, sometimes known as the
Chiru, lives on the borders of Tibet and China. Its coat is extremely soft and can
be spun into the finest of scarves, called shahtoosh. Poachers shoot this animal,
sometimes with machine guns, to make money from selling the skins. Those who
are involved in this illegal trade claim that the animals are not shot and that the
fine hair is collected from bushes where it has been snagged as the animal passes.
The area in which the animal lives is very cold and bushes can’t grow there!
It is illegal to set out poisoned baits in the open, yet this still occurs. Those who
set out the bait claim that it is to kill pest species, such as crows and foxes. In
the past few years, dogs, cats, golden eagles, white tailed eagles, owls, buzzards,
hedgehogs and many other species have been found dead after eating poisoned
baits.
In Scotland, a person fishing for salmon or shooting a deer without permission,
or being cruel to a domestic animal can be arrested by the police. There was no
power for the police to arrest someone who was killing wildlife or taking the eggs
of our rarest birds, which made the job of the police extremely difficult.
Thankfully this power of arrest was introduced by the Scottish Executive in
2003.
Hundreds of thousands of songbirds are taken from the wild every year to be
caged and expected to sing for their owners. Would you sing if you were in a
strange environment? This is against the law – though still occurs - in Britain,
but is still legal in countries like Malta and Cyprus.
Pest species of birds, such as crows, jackdaws, pigeons and starlings, may in
some circumstances legally be killed. This still doesn’t allow youths with air
guns to use them as target practice. There are certain conditions attached to the
control of these birds, which must be causing damage before they can be
controlled.
Wildlife crime doesn’t just relate to birds, animals and plants. Scotland has
many rare moths and butterflies that are protected and from time to time
persons are charged with taking them from the wild or having dead specimens in
a collection.
Like animals and birds, different plants have different degrees of protection.
For instance it is not an offence, with the landowner’s permission, to dig up wild
snowdrop or bluebell bulbs, or to pick the flowers. It is an offence to sell bluebell
bulbs, but not an offence to sell wild snowdrop bulbs. Even a landowner cannot
pick a rare wild plant such as a wild orchid. Wildlife law is complicated, isn’t it!
Whales, dolphins and porpoises (called cetaceans) which live off the coast of
Scotland, also have the protection of the law. As you can imagine this is difficult
for the police to enforce, though luckily few crimes are committed against them.
The main crime relates to people with speedboats and jet-skis chasing after them
and harassing them.
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