A coalition of wildlife and environmental groups, working as a consortium under the Wildlife & Countryside Link banner, has published its latest annual Wildlife Crime Report (2023).
This latest publication reveals that reports of wildlife crime levels have remained stubbornly high since a surge during the Covid-19 pandemic, with 4,735 incidents reported in 2023. There were increased instances of persecution, harm or death being reported for badgers, bats and marine mammals in 2023, yet convictions for wildlife crime remain shockingly few, with numbers at an all-time low when looking at all the types of wildlife crime.
To properly tackle the issue of wildlife crime, LINK’s wildlife crime group is calling for the following actions (most of which were also recommended by a UN report in 2021):
1. Making wildlife crimes notifiable to the Home Office, so such crimes are officially recorded in national statistics. This would better enable police forces to gauge the true extent of wildlife crime and to plan strategically to address it.
2. Increasing resources & training for wildlife crime teams in police forces. Significant investment in expanding wildlife and rural crime teams across police forces in England & Wales, would enable further investigations, and lead to further successful prosecutions. Funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit should be increased in line with inflation, to allow the Unit to continue its excellent work.
3. Sentencing guidelines for wildlife crimes. No sentencing guidelines are currently in place for wildlife crimes so judges tend to err towards caution and the lower end of the sanction scale for wildlife crime convictions. The Sentencing Council should consult on sentencing guidelines in England and Wales for a range of key wildlife crimes, including breaches of the Wildlife & Countryside Act, Hunting Act, Protection of Badgers Act, Habitats Regulations, and Control of Trade in Endangered Species (COTES) regulations.
The 2023 Wildlife Crime Report can be read/downloaded here:
Raptor Persecution UK 
All eminently sensible suggestions, but I would like to add…
“1. Making wildlife crimes notifiable to the Home Office…”
Also, officially recording wildlife crime involving guns as firearms offences. Not currently done anywhere in England, Wales and Scotland (and we know why:-(.
“3. Sentencing guidelines for wildlife crimes. No sentencing guidelines are currently in place for wildlife crimes…”
Adding wildlife crime to the Unduly Lenient Sentencing Scheme for England and Wales. Introducing an Unduly Lenient Sentencing Scheme for Scotland.
The general public are denied any input on sentencing for wildlife crime. Why?
They pathetic sentences handed down are a key issue – this has simply emboldened the criminals in this space
Over the past couple of centuries, the UK has produced a determined and compassionate part of its population which has involved the creation of attitudes, backed by laws, for the prevention of cruelty to animals. The Quakers were prominent in this force for animal welfare, and that impetus drove them into fighting slavery. Britain has become a bastion for charities that have led the world in contesting the abuse of sentient beings, and the conservation of species and the natural world. The genocide of indigenous peoples came into focus due to the excesses industrial resource demand and colonisation.
What we have in front of us, is the blatant snubbing of hard-fought for laws to protect vulnerable wildlife, and the deliberate delay of that protective legislation by well-placed individuals in Government positions and judiciary. That constipated approach to alleviate suffering, and the possibility of species extinction, has shown society just how “oppressed” the humane thinking and acting part of our population has been. One can hear the snorts and guffaws from the blood sports hierarchy as their crimes mount in the statistics. We do not have a democracy, for if we did, law enforcement with meaningful sentencing would be seen. What we have is a gross insult to those who
campaign for a more humane society, backed by an education system inculcating respect for Life in its many forms. It is time to name and shame those who have been instrumental in maintaining this lineage of dominance over what is decent and caring. Change of Government makes no difference, as their agents are tucked cosily in strategic appointments to thwart what is good and progressive.
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Interesting that they specifically mentioned catapults in the report, and included one case as an example. Obviously catapults and morons are not a new concept to human society, but I have noticed a growing”fad” for videos of birds & mammals being targeted with catapults on several mainstream fieldsports type channels. Seemingly the catapult is being legitimised as a good, fun & humane tool for killing things by anyone who cares to try. Presumably it all helps to tot up the clicks / views / income for the channels concerned but it is absolutely pathetic, and deserves increased legal attention and condemnation from all sides (sometimes gets the odd critical comment from “within the tent” on these channels, but not much and not often).
Indeed. It is a growing issue, so much so that there’s now a specific national police operation (led by Essex Police in conjunction with RSPCA, I think) to tackle it – called Operation Lakeshot. The trend seems to be driven by kids posting on TikTok.
“Seems to be driven by kids posting on TikTok.”
That’s interesting. I stopped two very young teenagers firing squishy plastic pellets at water birds a couple of weeks ago (using a gun) inside a local nature reserve. The resident Mute Swan family (humans = food) were rapidly swimming within range…
They claimed they did not know what they were doing was illegal.
Your post throws an illuminating light on the incident.
“Seemingly the catapult is being legitimised as a good, fun & humane tool for killing things by anyone who cares to try.”
See https://www.surrey-pcc.gov.uk/we-must-end-acts-thoughtless-brutality-swans-time-tighter-legislation-catapults/
Note: the Parliamentary e-petition referenced by the Surrey Deputy PCC fell foul of the General Election.
Wildlife has notably decreased in this previously wild area since the appearance of numerous ‘green’ energy developments targeting it for turbines, solar panels and battery storage units. Landowners are being offered vast sums of money by the developers, which is cheaper for the developers to do than to buy land in the areas of high energy use in the south of England where the ‘green’ energy eventually ends up after being transported for hundreds of miles via power lines and pylons. I suspect the disappearance of our wildlife isn’t entirely due to the construction and operation of these huge industrial sites – landowners immediately lose the opportunity to get their hands on the money if the scheme doesn’t get off the ground if protected species are detected during the pre-planning environmental surveys. Nobody seems to be checking on or monitoring what’s going on up here.