Year: 2014

Red-faced police admit ‘skinned badgers’ were actually roe deer

Ah, police wildlife crime investigations at their finest.

It has emerged that the ‘six skinned badgers’ reported by the police as having been found dumped by a road in Peebles last Friday (see here) were actually roe deer remains.

A news release put out this morning (see here) confirms that the mis-identification was revealed during post-mortem tests at the Scottish Agricultural College in Edinburgh.

Quite how roe deer remains can be mistaken for badger carcasses is anyone’s guess.

The revelation will be doubly embarrassing for Police Scotland, as the ‘six skinned badgers’ report had led to a question in the parliamentary Chamber yesterday (see here).

We had expected Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse to field the question, although it turns out that the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Kenny Macaskill, had to answer instead, given that the question centred on ‘police resources’ for tackling wildlife crime.

His response was predictable – almost as if reading from a script. Video footage of the question and answer session can be viewed here (from 06.32 onwards). There was also a question from MSP Nigel Don (SNP, North Angus) about the poisoned eagle ‘Fearnan’ and the effectiveness of vicarious liability. Again, the answer was predictably staid.

Whilst this latest police fiasco reassures us that, on this occasion at least, six badgers have not been brutally killed and skinned, it does nothing to increase our confidence in Police Scotland’s ability to effectively tackle wildlife crime, especially if they can’t even tell the difference between two mammals that bear absolutely no resemblance to each other.

Environment Minister faces more questions on tackling wildlife crime

Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse is facing a busy few weeks as he comes under increasing pressure, not just from the public but also from politicians, about the problems of effectively addressing wildlife crime in Scotland.

Back in his office today after the Xmas break, he will have been met with a backlogged barrage of emails concerning the poisoned golden eagle ‘Fearnan’ (see here), in addition to complaints about the latest ridiculous police appeal for information concerning the dead buzzard “that had not died of natural causes” (see here).

Today, MSP Christine Grahame (SNP Midlothian South, Tweeddale & Lauderdale) lodged the following question in parliament:

Question S4T-00552: To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent discovery of six badger carcasses near Peebles, whether it is content with Police Scotland’s resource allocation for detecting and preventing wildlife crimes.

This question is due to be heard in Chamber tomorrow (7th Jan 2014).

The badger incident she refers to was reported on the BBC website on Saturday 4th January 2014 (see here). The appeal for information made by Police Scotland was in stark contrast to the appeal for information they put out about the dead buzzard “that had not died of natural causes“.

The badger appeal came out less than 24 hours after the six skinned badger carcasses had been discovered; the buzzard appeal didn’t come out until 25 days after the carcass had been found.

The badger appeal provided a vivid description of what state the badgers were in when found (i.e. skinned). The buzzard appeal just said the bird “had not died of natural causes“.

The badger appeal gave a precise location of where the victims had been found, including their position (‘east banking’) on a named road (‘Bonnington Road’) that led to a named farm (‘Bonnington Farm’). The location provided in the buzzard appeal was given as ‘near the village of Tomatin’, with no indication of scale.

The badger appeal even gave a precise time of when the carcasses were discovered. The buzzard appeal did not.

You couldn’t get two more different appeals for information. One (the badger appeal) was timely, detailed and informative. The other was anything but.

sspca_badgeChristine Grahame’s question is bang on the money. It’ll be interesting to see how Wheelhouse responds. Perhaps he’ll mention the long-promised public consultation on increasing the powers of the SSPCA to allow them to investigate more wildlife crime than they are currently allowed.

We have blogged A LOT about this promised consultation. The consultation was first suggested by former MSP Peter Peacock as an amendment during the WANE Bill debates, way back in February 2011. The then Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham rejected it as an amendment but suggested a consultation was in order.

Seven months later in September 2011, MSP Elaine Murray lodged a motion that further powers for the SSPCA should be considered. In November 2011, Elaine Murray MSP formalised the question in a P&Q session and the next Environment Minister, Stewart Stevenson, then promised that the consultation would happen in the first half of 2012. Nothing happened.

In September 2012 we asked Paul Wheelhouse, as the new Environment Minister, when the consultation would take place. The response, in October 2012, was:

“The consultation has been delayed by resource pressures but will be brought forward in the near future”.

Nothing happened, so nine months later in July 2013 we asked again. In August 2013, this was the response:

“We regret that resource pressures did further delay the public consultation on the extension of SSPCA powers. However, I can confirm that the consultation document will be published later this year“.

The end of 2013 came and went, and still nothing.

So, nearly three years after Scottish Ministers committed to undertaking this consultation, where is it?

Questions to Mr Wheelhouse at the usual address: ministerforenvironment@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Another dead buzzard in Scotland: another pathetic police response

Police Scotland has issued an embarrassingly vague press release following the discovery of a dead buzzard in suspicious circumstances.

According to the BBC report (here), which is presumably based upon the police’s press release, the dead bird was found “near the village of Tomatin in the Highlands” by a member of the public on 9th December 2013.

“Police said an examination of the buzzard suggested it had not died of natural causes“.

In other words then, it had been illegally killed. The cause of death has not been mentioned, and nor has the specific location.

Given that Tomatin is in the heart of grouse moor country, and that this area is a well known raptor persecution hotspot on a par with the Angus Glens, we can’t help but question why this press release has been designed to be so deliberately cryptic. Who are the police trying to protect?

It’s not the first time, either. In June 2013 they issued a similarly cryptic press release following the discovery of a dead red kite in Aberdeenshire. They said: “After recovery of the carcass, a post mortem was carried out. This revealed that the bird’s death was not by natural causes“. It was later reported that the kite had been shot (see here).

In September 2010, they issued a vague appeal for information following the discovery of an osprey in the Highlands that died from what they described as “deliberately inflicted injuries“. It was later reported that the osprey had been shot (see here).

Is it any wonder that we’ve lost complete confidence in Police Scotland to investigate this type of wildlife crime? What other offence would trigger such an uninformative police statement? Have you ever seen a police response like it? It’s like a new game show, ‘Guess the Crime’, hosted by Police Scotland: Something illegal happened in the Central Belt four weeks ago. We’re not telling you what it was or where it happened; you’ll have to guess. Anyone with information is asked to contact the police‘.

Public anger over the continued illegal killing of raptors on grouse moors is already at an all-time high following the death of golden eagle ‘Fearnan’ last month, found poisoned in the Angus glens. The police’s continued unwillingness to provide transparency over these investigations is sure to add to that sense of fury. These criminals are getting away time after time, and it’s not hard to see why.

If you want to express your frustration and dissatisfaction with the way Police Scotland are behaving during these wildlife crime ‘investigations’ (and we use that term loosely), please email Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse and ask him for an explanation: ministerforenvironment@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

We know that hundreds of you emailed him just before Xmas following the death of golden eagle Fearnan. Don’t underestimate how powerful that volume of messages from the public can be.