Wildlife Crime in Scotland 2022
Publication giving statistics on wildlife crime in 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
Figure 17: The 46 CITES offences for 2021-22 reflect the impact of Operation Tantallon concerning offences against peregrine falcons.
CITES offences recorded by Police Scotland 2017-18 to 2021-22
As shown in Figure 17, the number of CITES offences is typically low, with an average of 1 recorded offence per year in the 4 years before 2021-22. However, a very sharp increase was seen in 2021-22 (46 offences) and this reflected the impact of Operation Tantallon – a police operation targeting crimes regarding the theft, illegal handling and trade of peregrine falcons. Out of 46 CITES offences, 41 concerned offences against peregrine falcons in the Lothians & Borders police division.
Further detail on CITES offences by police division and type of offence is provided in Table 28 of the Tables supporting document.
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