Category: News

NatureScot announces the commencement of its utterly shambolic & unenforceable changes to grouse moor licencing

Further to my blog on Monday (here) outlining how Scotland’s grouse moor licensing scheme had already been sabotaged by the grouse shooting industry, today NatureScot has announced the commencement of its utterly shambolic and unenforceable changes made to the licence:

NatureScot is still stating, “We expect the area covered by the licence to be the full extent of the grouse moor“. This ‘expectation’ has no legal weight whatsoever.

As I discussed previously, the grouse moor owners can simply draw an arbitrary line around their grouse butts, denoting the reach of a shotgun pellet, and argue that THAT is the area where they take/kill grouse and thus that should be the extent of the licensable area:

Grouse moor photo by Richard Cross. Annotation by RPUK

What this means in practice is that if any raptor persecution offences take place outside of that licensable area, the grouse moor/licence holder will not lose his licence because there won’t have been a breach of the new licensing condition.

NatureScot has tried to address this loophole by introducing a second change, which, according to NatureScot, “Will allow us to revoke the licence if raptor persecution which is connected to the grouse moor takes place outside of this licensed area“.

Actually, it won’t, because how on earth will the authorities demonstrate that the raptor persecution crime was “connected to the grouse moor“? On a mixed shooting estate (i.e. the estate hosts grouse, pheasant and red-legged partridge shoots), how will NatureScot determine whether a poisoned golden eagle, found on a different part of the estate away from the grouse moor, was killed in connection to the grouse moor as opposed to ‘in connection with’ the pheasant or red-legged partridge shoot? How will NatureScot determine who laid the poisoned bait?

All the licence holder has to prove in their defence is that they’ve taken “reasonable steps” to prevent raptor persecution on their estate (e.g. their employees all sign contracts swearing to uphold the law), the gamekeepers will all give ‘no comment’ police interviews, and it will be virtually impossible to identify the perpetrator. Any half-decent defence lawyer will shred any attempt made by NatureScot to revoke a licence based on such uncertainty.

It’s exactly the same situation we had before the licencing scheme became enacted, and, incidentally, is exactly WHY the licensing scheme was introduced, to get around these issues!

The other big shocker within these new changes is that all the other offences listed in the Wildlife Management & Muirburn Act that are supposed to trigger a licence revocation (i.e. offences on the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996, Conservation (Natural Habitats etc) Regulations 1994, Animal Health & Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006, Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023) are NOT covered by this second change to the licence. That second change ONLY applies to raptor persecution offences.

Honestly, these new changes are so, so poorly thought through, and so, so far away from the Scottish Parliament’s intention when passing the Bill, it’s astonishing.

Stand by for more news about this later today…

UPDATE 13 November 2024: Mark Ruskell MSP starts parliamentary process of challenging the “vast loophole” in new grouse moor licence (here)

UPDATE 24 January 2025: NatureScot capitulated on grouse moor licensing after legal threats by game-shooting industry (here)

UPDATE 10 February 2025: Parliamentary questions lodged on grouse moor licensing shambles in Scotland (here)

UPDATE 14 November 2025: Scottish Minister Jim Fairlie provides rationale behind proposed amendment to close loophole on grouse shoot licence (here)

Satellite-tagged golden eagle ‘disappears’ in suspicious circumstances on grouse moor in the notorious Angus Glens

Press release from RSPB:

EAGLE VANISHES IN BIRD OF PREY CRIME HOTSPOT

  • The young Golden Eagle, fitted with a satellite-tag, was being monitored by researchers in Scotland until it suddenly disappeared in the Angus Glens – an area dominated by grouse moors and with a history of raptor persecution.
  • Scotland’s national bird, Golden Eagles are still heavily – and criminally – persecuted.

The sudden disappearance of a satellite-tagged Golden Eagle has sparked concerns of criminal activity in the Angus Glens. 

The young bird, which hatched in Tayside in 2022, was fitted with a satellite tag while in its nest. This work was supported by Forestry and Land Scotland for research purposes.

The tag was transmitting as expected until May 2024 when it suddenly went offline. Its last known location was an area of moorland in the Angus Glens – an area with a long history of illegal bird of prey persecution. 

The data from the bird’s tag was swiftly provided to the police for independent scrutiny. Police Scotland, the National Wildlife Crime Unit and RSPB Scotland then conducted a search of the area but found no trace of the bird or its tag. 

Golden eagle photo by Pete Walkden

It is a crime to kill a bird of prey, and anyone caught doing so faces a fine or even jail. Furthermore, legislation introduced in March 2024 means that, if illegal activity takes place on a grouse moor, that grouse moor could lose its license to operate. 

Will Hayward, RSPB Scotland Senior Investigations Officer, said: “The sudden cessation of transmissions from this tag strongly suggests human interference, and reflects a pattern of tagged birds ‘disappearing’ almost exclusively on or near grouse moors that has become all too evident in recent years. Had this bird died of natural causes or if the tag had become detached, we would be able to locate and retrieve it. Given the well-proven reliability of this technology, when no body or tag is found, this is highly suspicious. We believe this bird has been killed and the tag destroyed.”

Unfortunately, this young bird is the latest of many to disappear without explanation on or near a grouse moor. 

Angus was one of the raptor crime hotspots identified in a Government-commissioned report on the fates of satellite tracked golden eagles in Scotland, published in 2017. Sadly there has been no let-up in confirmed incidents and suspicious disappearances since then. Most recently, an Osprey was found shot in the Glen Doll area on 12 August – the opening day of the grouse shooting season. [Ed: And a Peregrine was found shot in the Angus Glens on 3 September 2024, here]. And earlier this year sat-tagged Hen Harrier ‘Shalimar’ disappeared in circumstances similar to this Golden Eagle. 

If you notice a dead or injured bird of prey in suspicious circumstances, call Police Scotland on 101 and fill in the RSPB’s online reporting form here.

If you have information about anyone killing birds of prey which you wish to report anonymously, call the RSPB’s confidential Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101.

ENDS

New report from Wild Justice reveals birds of prey being poisoned by shocking level of misuse & abuse of rodenticides

Press release from Wild Justice:

Another Silent Spring? A UK Government scheme to prevent the widespread poisoning of wildlife by rodenticides is failing.

Increasingly high levels of rodenticides (Rat poisons) have been found in Buzzards and Red Kites, and the Government is ignoring the evidence.

  • A report by Wild Justice highlights that the exposure of birds of prey to rodenticides in England has increased since a government scheme was introduced in 2015 to try and combat the problem. 
  • Data from Red Kites and Buzzards, from both before and after the Rodenticide Stewardship Scheme (RSS) was introduced, show that anticoagulant rodenticides are now found in the livers of most dead birds that are tested, often at high levels.
  • Between 2020 and 2022, almost three quarters of tested Buzzards had been poisoned by rodenticides that are supposed to be restricted for use in and around buildings, including highly toxic Brodifacoum. This shows rodenticides aren’t being used correctly and that the use of these products requires stricter regulation, monitoring and enforcement.

Rodenticides are now being found in the livers of most dead Buzzards and Red Kites tested, according to a new report by conservation campaign group Wild Justice.

Using data obtained through Freedom of Information Requests, Wild Justice’s ‘Collateral Damage’ report presents the results of Government laboratory tests for 366 Buzzards and 173 Red Kites that had been submitted to the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme (WIIS) in England during the period 2005 to 2022. The report shows that in recent years nearly all these raptors had tested positive for Rat poison, often in high amounts.

A poisoned red kite. Photo by Dr Marc Ruddock

Rat poisons are toxins (Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides, or SGARs) and are used extensively in game-keepering, farming and for pest control. It has been known for many years that these poisons don’t just kill targeted Rats. Poisoned Rats store the toxin in their liver and typically die several days after exposure. However, any animal eating the dying or dead Rat will also receive a dose of the toxin, resulting in the death of many species up the food chain, especially scavenging species such as Buzzards and Red Kites.

In 2012 the UK Health and Safety Executive carried out an environmental risk assessment on the use of SGARs and concluded that, due to the risk of secondary poisoning to wildlife, the poisons should not be used outdoors. However, the UK Government rejected this risk assessment and permitted the continued outdoor use of SGARs outdoors, even relaxing the regime to allow the external use of more toxic poisons such as Brodifacoum. Previously Brodifacoum was only allowed for use indoors.

The continued outdoor use of SGARs was on the condition that professional users complied with guidance known as the Rodenticide Stewardship Scheme (RSS) which was established in 2015. The aim of the RSS was to reduce SGAR exposure in wildlife resulting from improved Rat control working practices. The effectiveness of the RSS would be assessed by monitoring poison levels in wildlife, with a commitment to reduce SGAR exposure by 30% by 2020.

On the contrary, Wild Justice’s results demonstrate that rodenticide poisoning has actually increased during this period, not decreased.

Wild Justice compared data from birds tested before the introduction of the RSS in 2015, to those afterwards. Between 2005 and 2010 over 50% of dead Buzzards tested did not have any rodenticides in their livers. But in those tested between 2020 and 2022, over 90% of dead Buzzards had some level of rodenticide in their livers.

The data also show that in addition to the increasing number of Buzzards testing positive for rodenticide, there’s also been an increase in the number of birds containing very high levels of the poison. In Buzzards tested between 2005 and 2010, less than 2% contained over 0.3mg/kg (milligrams per kilogram) of SGAR poison in their livers, an amount considered to be very high. Yet in those tested between 2020 and 2022, nearly a quarter had over that amount.

An even starker picture was painted when looking at data for Red Kites. 15% of Red Kites tested between 2005 and 2010 contained these very high levels, whereas in those tested between 2020 and 2022, two thirds (66%) of birds had over 0.3mg/kg of SGAR rodenticide in their livers. In 2020-2022, none of the Red Kites tested were rodenticide free, and almost 90% had very high levels of poison.

Rodenticides are readily available, both for use by industry and for domestic purposes. There are different types of poisons available on the market, and many birds had been exposed to more than one type, with twelve of the Buzzards tested exposed to four different poisons. In Buzzards testing positive for rodenticide between 2020 and 2022, almost three quarters involved poisons that are supposed to be restricted for use in and around buildings, including highly toxic Brodifacoum.

Wild Justice believe this is partly the result of poisons being used illegally away from buildings. At the start of the survey period (2005 to 2012) these toxins were restricted to use within buildings only, and were generally marketed to professional pest controllers, rather than to gamekeepers and farmers. Now they appear to be in regular use by these groups, including illegally in open field situations away from buildings. This is the only explanation for such widespread levels of rodenticide found in Buzzards and Red Kites and shows that the use of these products requires stricter regulation, monitoring and enforcement.

Brodifacoum bait station illegally set on the edge of a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Photo by Ruth Tingay
Brodifacoum. Photo by Ruth Tingay

Buzzards and Red Kites serve as indicators of a wider problem that will affect other predators and scavengers, including scarce and declining species. There are lots of species that eat rodents (not just Rats), meaning other birds like Kestrels and Barn Owls are also at risk. Wild Justice is calling for urgent regulatory changes to limit the availability and use of these products for the benefit of wildlife.

A spokesperson for Wild Justice said:

‘The Rodenticide Stewardship Scheme is a failed scheme, which the government should recognise. It is ridiculous that such dangerous, hazardous substances are escaping stricter regulation, especially when the evidence shows they are poisoning wildlife on a widespread scale, and even being used deliberately and illegally to do so. Our report reveals just the tip of the iceberg – such high levels of these poisons being found in birds of prey should be ringing alarm bells’.

ENDS

Wild Justice’s new report can be read/downloaded here:

Collateral_Damage_Wild_Justice report Nov2024Download

UPDATE 10th December 2024: Inadequate response by Scottish Minister Jim Fairlie to parliamentary question on use & abuse of rodenticides (here)

Scotland’s grouse moor licensing scheme has already been sabotaged

The grouse moor licensing scheme in Scotland, brought in under the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 in spring, has already been sabotaged by the grouse shooting industry.

This is breaking news that I presented at the REVIVE conference at Perth Concert Hall yesterday.

Some of the details of this sabotage are still a bit murky – it has all happened behind the scenes and it is proving difficult to get hold of the documents but it is apparent that the grouse shooting industry threatened a legal challenge against NatureScot’s interpretation of the new legislation, relating to the area of land that would be covered by the grouse shoot licence.

As a result of that threat, NatureScot appears to have caved in and has introduced modifications to the licence conditions which significantly narrow the intended purpose and reach of the original licence. However, scrutiny of those new conditions reveal they are utterly unenforceable.

These secret ‘negotiations’ between NatureScot and the grouse shooting industry appear to have been taking place over a number of months, without any consultation with other stakeholders and nor, it seems, with the police, who I understand have advised NatureScot of their concerns about their ability to enforce the new conditions.

I submitted an FoI to NatureScot a few weeks ago when I first became aware of these issues and I asked for the following documents:

  1. A copy of the legal advice NatureScot received in relation to these changes.
  2. A copy of all correspondence between NatureScot and Ministers in relation to these changes.
  3. A copy of all external correspondence in relation to these changes.
  4. A copy of all internal correspondence in relation to these changes.

The deadline for NatureScot’s response was last week. It came as no surprise whatsoever to receive an email from NS last week telling me they needed a further 20 working days to respond.

The lack of transparency around these changes is deeply concerning, especially given the efforts made by Government and its agencies to include the views of all stakeholders as the Wildlife Management & Muirburn Bill made its way through Parliament over the last year or so. These new modifications to the licence conditions look like a stitch-up that’s been concocted between the grouse shooting industry and NatureScot.

What it also shows, in my view, is the grouse shooting industry’s insincerity about tackling raptor persecution on grouse moors. The intent of the Scottish Parliament was clear when it passed the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Act and I have no doubt about its sincerity. What these new licence conditions do is undermine the will of Parliament and effectively negate the effectiveness of the grouse moor licensing scheme.

Work is now underway to address this in Parliament with the RSPB leading the charge. I expect we’ll hear a lot more about this over the coming days and weeks.

For those interested in the details of the licence changes and their implications (as far as I understand them at this stage), you can watch my presentation at yesterday’s REVIVE conference here (starts at 19.42 mins).

UPDATE 13 November 2024: NatureScot announces the commencement of its utterly shambolic & unenforceable changes to grouse moor licensing (here)

UPDATE 13 November 2024: Mark Ruskell MSP starts parliamentary process of challenging the “vast loophole” in new grouse moor licence (here)

UPDATE 15 November 2024: Scotland’s grouse moor licences “allowed to descend into a shambles” (here)

UPDATE 5 December 2024: Scottish Government ‘aware’ of issues with new grouse moor licences (here)

UPDATE 18 December 2024: NatureScot is stalling on releasing overdue FoI documents relating to its grouse moor licensing shambles (here)

UPDATE 24 January 2025: NatureScot capitulated on grouse moor licensing after legal threats by game-shooting industry (here)

UPDATE 10 February 2025: Parliamentary questions lodged on grouse moor licensing shambles in Scotland (here)

UPDATE 3 November 2025: Breaking news – Scottish Government commits to closing loophole on sabotaged grouse moor licences (here)

UPDATE 4 November 2025: Statement from RSPB Scotland Director on proposed amendment to close grouse moor licence loophole (here)

UPDATE 14 November 2025: Scottish Minister Jim Fairlie provides rationale behind proposed amendment to close loophole on grouse shoot licence (here)

Buzzard found shot next to grouse moor in Strathbraan, Perthshire

Press release from REVIVE, the coalition for grouse moor reform:

SHOT BUZZARD SUFFERED ‘SIGNIFICANT UNNECCESARY SUFFERING’

Six months on from the introduction of new legislation intended to tackle raptor persecution, wildlife campaigners have expressed concern about the continued shooting of protected birds of prey near Scotland’s grouse moors.

The League Against Cruel Sports and Raptor Persecution UK have both commented on the shooting of a protected buzzard found near to the boundary of land belonging to Glenturret Estate in Perthshire in mid-May, just a few weeks after the Wildlife Management and Muirburn Act 2024 received Royal assent.

The comments came after police notified the League Against Cruel Sports that they had concluded investigations into the shooting of the buzzard with no charges being brought.

The dead bird was found on its back with its wings spread out by a Field Officer of the League Against Cruel Sports, who was carrying out field research on grouse moor management in the area.

A post-mortem conducted by the SRCU revealed that the buzzard had been injured by a ‘shot gun wound that caused fracture of the lower leg bone’, concluding that ‘the bird died slowly as a result of the leg wound and secondary infection, experiencing significant unnecessary suffering.’

Robbie Marsland Director of Scotland and Northern Ireland for League Against Cruel Sports said:

“Why would anyone shoot at a buzzard – unless it was someone who was trying to make sure there would be more grouse to shoot for so-called sport?

“The new laws were supposed to stop this kind of wanton cruelty but this case just goes to show that the killing goes on. Our worry is that this cruelty will continue as long as buzzards, hen harriers and golden eagles are seen as a threat to the shooting industry, rather than the magnificent creatures that they are.”

Dr Ruth Tingay of Raptor Persecution UK added:

“It was the persistent illegal killing of golden eagles and other raptors that led the Scottish Parliament to introduce a grouse moor licensing scheme earlier this year, a ground-breaking piece of legislation designed to impose sanctions on those who continue to kill our special birds of prey.

“The news that yet another raptor has been shot and killed is appalling. This case, along with other ongoing police investigations such as the recent shooting of an osprey and a peregrine, as well as the poisoning of a red kite and the discovery of a dismembered golden eagle found dumped inside a plastic bag, will test the effectiveness of the new legislation.

“If the killings continue, it’s likely there will be a push to ban gamebird shooting outright. If businesses can’t operate without killing protected species then they shouldn’t be in business.”

The Wildlife Management and Muirburn Act introduced a range of measures including a new licensing framework for grouse moors, banning the practice of snaring and giving greater powers to Scottish SPCA inspectors to tackle wildlife crime.

In a background briefing note about the new legislation, the Scottish Government stated, ‘The Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill was introduced primarily to address raptor persecution and ensure that the management of grouse moors and related activities are undertaken in an environmentally sustainable and welfare conscious manner.’

The need for land reform to help tackle wildlife crime will be one of the discussion points at the REVIVE Conference in Perth on Sunday 10 November. REVIVE is a coalition of the League Against Cruel Sports, Common Weal, OneKind, Friends of the Earth Scotland and Raptor Persecution UK, and both Robbie Marsland and Dr Ruth Tingay will speak at the event.

The conference will launch the Big Land Question campaign, a year-long programme of independent research with the aim of enhancing and informing policy development and to ascertain public perceptions around land reform.

ENDS

This news was published by the Daily Record this morning (here).

Strathbraan is a large area dominated by grouse moors and is a notorious raptor persecution hotspot.

Red kite found poisoned in Highlands

Press release from RSPB (5th November 2024):

RED KITE FOUND POISONED IN HIGHLANDS

  • The bird had consumed a banned pesticide which has a history of being used to kill birds of prey.
  • Red Kites are fully protected by law, and to kill or harm one could result in jail.
  • The illegal poisoning of birds of prey is a national issue and poses a potentially deadly danger to people, pets and wildlife.

A protected Red Kite endured an ‘agonising death’ after being killed by a banned pesticide, one quarter of a teaspoon of which is enough to kill a human.

RSPB Scotland received a call in April 2024 from a dog walker who had found a red kite dead on the ground near to a popular woodland walking trail, adjacent to hill farm land at Spinningdale, near Dornoch in East Sutherland.

RSPB Investigators notified Police Scotland, collected the bird and sent it for a post-mortem examination and toxicology analysis. The results were consistent with Carbofuran poisoning being the cause of the bird’s death, a pesticide banned for over 20 years. 

Police Scotland and partner agencies conducted a search of the area but found no evidence that enabled them to identify a suspect. 

It is a crime to kill or attempt to kill a bird of prey, and anyone caught doing so faces a fine or even jail. 

Red kite photo by Andy Howard

The latest Birdcrime report, released last month found there were 159 poisoning incidents involving birds of prey between 2009-2024 in Scotland. In recent years, Carbofuran has become the pesticide most frequently associated with bird of prey persecution.

And of all UK counties, the Highland area had the second highest number of confirmed incidents of raptor persecution during the same 15-year period.

Ian Thomson, RSPB Investigations Manager, said: 

“We are very grateful to the person that found this dead kite for reporting it to us. It is appalling that individuals are still using this poison, decades after it was banned, and this bird will have suffered an agonising and horrific death.

Carbofuran is a highly toxic substance and is one of several banned pesticides still used by criminals targeting birds of prey or other protected wildlife. Its possession or use is illegal and placing it out in the open poses a potentially deadly and indiscriminate risk not only to wildlife but to people and pets.

We ask anyone using the area to be vigilant if they find anything suspicious, don’t touch, but do take photos and report to Police Scotland immediately on 101.” 

If you notice a dead or injured bird of prey in suspicious circumstances, call Police Scotland on 101 and fill in the RSPB’s online reporting form here.

If you have information about anyone killing birds of prey which you wish to report anonymously, call the RSPB’s confidential Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101.

ENDS

Dismembered golden eagle found in plastic bag – Police Scotland appeal for information

Press release from Police Scotland (5th November 2024):

INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY AFTER GOLDEN EAGLE FOUND IN A BAG NEAR PORT OF MONTEITH

An investigation is under way after a dead golden eagle was found on a forestry track off A81 near Loch Rusky, north east of Port of Monteith.

The eagle was discovered around 11am on Tuesday, 30 July, 2024, wrapped in a plastic bag and body parts had been removed.

Enquiries have been ongoing and now officers are appealing for help to find out how it came to be there.

Golden eagles are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 1166 of 30/07/24 or make a call anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

ENDS

Golden eagle photo by Pete Walkden

It’s not clear why it has taken Police Scotland this long to issue an appeal for information.

There also aren’t any indications about which body parts were missing – although I can understand why they wouldn’t divulge that level of detail for operational reasons.

There are reasons why some body parts might have been removed – e.g. legs, either to remove an identifying leg ring, or to disguise spring trap injuries; head, as some sort of ‘trophy’.

It’s unusual to find a dismembered corpse inside a bag. Why do that?Presumably the eagle was killed and dismembered elsewhere and was put inside the bag to make it easier to transport and dump.

The only other similar incident I can recall was the discovery of nine shot raptors found in bags outside two gamekeepers’ houses on Millden Estate and on the riverbank of a neighbouring estate in the notorious Angus Glens (see here).

Without a tip off from someone, backed up with photographic evidence and/or DNA work, I very much doubt the police will be able to solve this one.

‘Just 433 people own half of Scotland: here’s why that’s wrong & must change’ (Opinion piece by Max Wiszniewski, REVIVE Coalition)

There’s an opinion piece in The Scotsman today written by Max Wiszniewski, Campaign Manager for REVIVE, the coalition for grouse moor reform.

The article is open access here.

Max’s article contains some interesting details such as:

‘Despite taking up 57 per cent of rural Scotland, private estates provide just three per cent of rural homes. This figure was obtained from recent research published by Scottish Land and Estates. The same report showed that 78 per cent of estates were still involved in ‘country sports’ like grouse and deer shooting‘.

And

‘Despite claims from the industry that sport shooting is good for the economy, it only contributes about 0.03 per cent of Scotland’s economy. In other words, if Scotland’s economy was the height of Ben Nevis, sport shooting’s contribution would be the size of a bottle of Irn-Bru. Is this worth all the animal cruelty and environmental devastation that sport shooting still causes to this day?

Land use is about choices, and the consequences of these choices define whether Scotland’s rural economies and rural ecologies thrive or not. Currently, the concentrated ownership of Scotland’s land means that these choices are made by very few people. For the benefit of whom?‘

The article is a primer for the REVIVE Coalition’s national conference this weekend at Perth Concert Hall, where the focus is on land reform and will see the launch of a year-long initiative called the Big Land Question, to identify how the ownership and management of Scotland’s land could be improved for the majority rather than just a few large landowners.

Tickets cost £8 (£5 concession) and are available from the venue HERE.

Wildlife crime at worrying levels while convictions at an all-time low, say conservationists

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:

WCL_Wildlife_Crime_2023Download

Rural Affairs Committee to consider attempts to disrupt impending snare ban in Scotland

Regular blog readers will know that the Scottish Parliament voted through a complete ban on the use of all snares (and so-called ‘humane cable restraints’) as part of the Wildlife Management & Muirburn Scotland Act 2024 earlier this year (here).

It was announced in September that the ban will commence with immediate effect on 25 November 2024.

A snared fox on a grouse moor that will have suffered a slow, tortured death. Photo from a report by OneKind and League Against Cruel Sports entitled, Cruel and Indiscriminate: Why Scotland Must Become Snare-Free

However, last month I blogged (here) about how the game shooting industry a appeared to be attempting to disrupt the commencement of the ban.

A consortium of the usual suspects (Scottish Land & Estates, Scottish Gamekeepers Association, Scottish Countryside Alliance, BASC Scotland, Scotland’s Regional Moorland Groups and the Scottish Association for Country Sports), joined by the National Farmers Union of Scotland, had written an overly-dramatic letter to the Convenor of the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs & Islands Committee to complain about the commencement of the ban.

They suggested that the principles behind the snare ban had ‘not been afforded the customary levels of parliamentary scrutiny’ (even though this subject has been a topic of political debate and public consultation for at least 15 years!), and they complained that Ministers hadn’t conducted a Business & Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) prior to the commencement of the snare ban, and they strongly suggested that this should afford a delay to the commencement of the ban.

Imagine arguing that your business can’t function without the ability to asphyxiate wildlife with a wire noose.

The Convenor of the Rural Affairs & Islands Committee, Finlay Carson MSP, wrote to the Minister to ask for some clarification, in advance of the Committee’s consideration of the legislation behind the commencement of the ban.

Agriculture Minister Jim Fairlie has now responded to Mr Carson, with a ‘nothing to see here’ letter:

Fairlie response_Wildlife Bill Prohibition of the use of snares 25 October 2024Download

The Rural Affairs and Islands Committee will consider this issue at its next meeting on Wednesday (6th November), starting at 9am. You can watch live on Scottish Parliament TV (here) and I’ll publish the transcript when it becomes available.

So far, there hasn’t been a recommendation for an annulment of the ban’s starting date of 25th November 2024 but this Committee has the power to make such a recommendation if it chooses.

I realise this is all quite turgid legalese but the consequences could result in a delay to the commencement date, which would mean that the use of snares would still be lawful after 25th November 2024 instead of being banned.

Definitely one to watch.

UPDATE 25th November 2024: A landmark day in Scotland as snare ban commences (here)