Wildlife crime in Scotland: annual report 2021

3. Additional data sources

Chapters three and four include commentary and data provided by other bodies involved in the investigation of wildlife crime in Scotland including government departments, agencies and non-Government organisations. The data provides additional detail on incidents or investigative work to complement the data presented in Chapter two and to help fill in gaps where disaggregation of that data is not possible.

Some of these data sources include incidents that have been reported to stakeholders or detected using their specific expertise.

Police Scotland operate to the Scottish Crime Recording Standard which sets criteria for recording an incident as a crime. There is no requirement for other stakeholders to adhere to the Scottish Crime Recording Standard, therefore there may be variability in the way in which crimes are recorded between the various organisations.

It is possible that, if reported to the Police, some of these incidents would not have been recorded as a crime, or would have been recorded as environmental offences or firearms/shotgun offences depending on the nature of the crime.

Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA)

SASA is a Scottish Government department based in Edinburgh, which as part of its remit, provides several services for wildlife crime investigation.

Wildlife DNA Forensic Unit

The Wildlife DNA Forensic unit at SASA specialises in analysing animal DNA recovered during wildlife crime investigations. We answer questions such as "What species does this blood smear come from?" or "Can we link the suspect to the crime scene using DNA evidence from their dog?". Answering these questions can be crucial to determine whether a wildlife crime has been committed and can also provide powerful evidence to link a suspect to the crime. We carry out animal DNA analysis for investigations across the UK, and table 8 provides a summary of the range of Scottish casework received over five financial years ending 31^st March 2021, divided into the UK wildlife crime priorities.

Table 8: Scottish wildlife DNA Forensic Unit cases, 2016-17 to 2020-21

Category	Scottish cases
	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
Badger persecution	0	1	5	2	2
Bat persecution	0	0	0	0	0
CITES	1	1	1	0	0
Freshwater pearl mussels	0	0	0	0	0
Poaching and coursing	3	3	2	1	5
Raptor persecution	4	5	8	5	3
Other wildlife crime	4	1	2	0	0
Other (e.g. animal cruelty)	2	0	3	2	5
Total	14	11	21	10	15

Source: SASA

The spread of cases over the 2020-21 period differs from previous years, with Poaching and Coursing overtaking Raptor persecution as the most common wildlife crime category for submission. Of the five cases in the Poaching and Coursing category, four were hare coursing and one was a salmon poaching investigation, but these cases have not yet been concluded.

For one case over this period which has concluded, investigated by the Scottish SPCA, the accused pled guilty to charges relating to animal fighting – specifically his dogs with badgers and foxes. DNA analysis on samples taken from clothing, equipment and a vehicle confirmed the presence of traces from badger and fox. The accused received a four-year ban on keeping dogs and a community payback order.

Within the "Other" category, we have been increasingly involved in cases where identifying the predator DNA from victim livestock is required. Sometimes these are sheep attacks by dogs, but ongoing work is looking to establish whether other possible predators – foxes, badgers and even eagles – may be involved in specific situations.

Chemistry Branch

The Chemistry Branch at SASA investigates suspected animal poisoning incidents, as part of the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme. Table 9 provides details of suspected pesticide incidents investigated in Scotland between 2016-17 to 2020-21 and summarises those incidents, categorised as abuse†, that are considered to be wildlife crimes because of the species or pesticide involved. Annually, the branch investigates in the region of 170-230 incidents.

The number of poisoning abuse incidents in 2019-2020 has decreased by 14 from 2019-20.

Table 9 also includes the numbers of abuse incidents involving suspicious baits or other substances, even if no creature was actually poisoned. Over the five year period, the highest number of recorded abuse incidents involved birds of prey (24) followed by incidents involving suspicious baits/substances (12). Bird of prey poisoning incidents are covered further in the Raptor Persecution section of this report.

Table 9: Pesticide incidents in Scotland 2016-17 to 2020-21

	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
Number of incidents investigated during financial year *	205	184	175	217	204
Number of incidents attributed to pesticides	20	17	14	28	14
Category – Abuse	10	10	8	20	6
% abuse	5	5	5	9	3
No. of abuse incidents involving birds of prey	3	4	5	9	3
No. of abuse incidents involving other birds **	0	1	0	5	1
No. of abuse incidents involving suspicious baits/substances	3	3	3	3	2
No. of abuse incidents involving companion animals	7	3	3	3	0
No. of abuse incidents involving wild mammals	0	0	0	0	0

Source: SASA

* Excludes honeybees and incidents where no analyses were undertaken

** No birds of prey associated with these incidents

†Abuse: An investigation into the circumstances of the case concluded that the pesticide(s) involved had been used in breach of their authorisation conditions and that this has been done with the deliberate intent of harming or attempting to harm wildlife or other animals. Where an animal is involved the cause of death has been established as pesticide poisoning.

SRUC Veterinary Services

SRUC Veterinary Services is a division of Scotland's Rural College (SRUC). While not a government agency, the work of the Veterinary Services team includes post mortem examinations on wild birds (under the Wild Bird Disease Surveillance budget) and on wild mammals (under the Animal Welfare budget). These budgets are funded by Advisory Activity grants-in-aid from the Scottish Government.

Carcases may be submitted for examination due to the suspicion of a potential wildlife crime. These come predominantly from Police Scotland, with substantial contributions from the RSPB and the SSPCA. Small numbers of carcases come from other conservation or wildlife organisations, or from members of the public. Where a wildlife crime is suspected following examination of a carcase submitted by non-law-enforcement agencies, the police are notified, to allow investigation to proceed.

In addition to the gathering of evidence related to an investigation, wild bird carcase submissions are used for disease surveillance, notably exotic zoonotic diseases such as avian influenza or West Nile virus.

In 2020-21, there were a total of 162 cases where a suspicion of potential criminality was present upon submission, of which 50 involved mammals and 112 involved birds. These are shown in Table 10 below: please note that the table shows the numbers of post mortem cases. A "case" is usually the submission of a carcase, or of multiple carcases which are closely associated by proximity and timing; the table does not enumerate the carcases or individual police investigations involved.

Table 10: Wildlife cases examined by SRUC Veterinary Services under advisory activity funding, 2016-17 to 2020-21

	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
Total wildlife cases examined as possible wildlife crimes	172	135*	195	125	162
Total mammal cases	49	31*	53	40	50
Total mammal cases identified by post-mortem as crime related	11	13*	21	17	21
% of mammal cases identified by post mortem as crime related	22%	42%	40%	42.5%	42%
Total bird cases	123	104	142	85	112
Total bird cases identified by post mortem as crime related	13	18	22	27	18
% of bird cases identified by post mortem as crime related	11%	17%	15%	32%	16%

Source: SRUC Veterinary Services

Every year, there are some avian and mammalian cases in which the degradation of the submitted carcase precludes the chance of a diagnosis; but in the majority of cases, a diagnosis is achieved. With regard to the causes of death or injury in mammalian cases where potential criminality was still suspected after post-mortem examination, attack by a dog or dogs was the most common cause. Shooting, injury caused by snaring, poisoning and injuries consistent with attack by a person were also reported. Mammalian submissions covered a wide range of species including squirrels, hares, otters, beavers, badgers, smaller mustelids, foxes, and deer.

In avian cases, the range of species submitted included buzzards, kites, owls, hawks, eagles, osprey, songbirds, martins, pigeons and doves, swans, geese and ducks, herons, corvids and capercaillie. Causes of death or injury were most commonly due to a failure to thrive/starvation, or to trauma not suspected to be criminal in nature, such as collisions with road traffic, electricity pylons, wind turbines, and other objects. Infection and parasitism were also prominent causes of mortality. Shooting (usually by firearm, but in one case with a metal bolt and in another with ball bearings), poisoning, and trapping in circumstances considered worthy of investigation by the submitting officer, were the most commonly recorded causes of death or injury where potential criminality was still suspected after post-mortem examination. Poison abuse incidents are confirmed by testing at SASA, and so the same cases referred to in this table also appear in Table 9.

Please note, the effects of the outbreaks of avian influenza in 2020-2021 and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns on the numbers and types of submissions received have not been fully evaluated. Any wild bird which tests positive for avian influenza (screening which is done before full post-mortem examination is carried out) cannot currently be further examined. In addition, the provision of a DEFRA helpline for members of the public to report dead wild birds found during the period of heightened avian influenza screening can mean that carcases enter the examination system through the avian influenza screening system, and not via the Police, SSPCA or RSPB.

NatureScot – General Licence Restrictions and protected species licensing

As part of a package of anti-wildlife crime measures announced by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change, NatureScot announced in 2014 that they would prevent the use of general licences to trap or shoot wild birds on land where there is evidence of wildlife crime against birds. Police Scotland will share information with NatureScot where it may prove to be of assistance in deciding on the use of these restrictions.

NatureScot published their framework for implementing restrictions on the use of General Licences in October 2014, which was part of a package of measures aimed at tackling raptor persecution. The rationale behind the restriction process was that the light-touch approach to regulation offered by General Licences (where there is no application process, and no significant registration or reporting requirements) would not be appropriate where there has been a loss of confidence, usually in situations where there has been evidence to show that crimes against wild birds have taken place.

NatureScot meet with Police Scotland and the National Wildlife Crime Unit every three months to review new information on bird crimes in Scotland and to identify any possible cases for future restrictions. Possible cases are reviewed against the criteria set out in the framework document and must be based upon clear evidence of crimes being committed. No new General Licence Restrictions were implemented during the period covered by this report, however in December 2021 the existing General Licence Restriction on Leadhills estate was extended due to further crimes against birds being recorded on the estate. Details of these can be found on the NatureScot website;

Following concerns about local population declines and the conservation status of mountain hare Scottish Ministers added them to Schedule 5 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) ("the 1981 Act") with effect from 1st March 2021. Their protected status changed from some protection during the breeding season to full protection all year round. This means that anyone who intentionally or recklessly kills, injures or takes mountain hare without a licence will be acting unlawfully. NatureScot has worked with stakeholders in developing a new licensing approach for mountain hare to reflect this change in protected status. The new protection and licensing arrangements apply from 1st August 2021.

NatureScot have developed online systems to streamline the application process for low-risk, high-volume licences. An online registration system for crow cage trap operators was launched in In March 2020, bringing time benefits for operators and enabling improved reporting and scrutiny by NatureScot. Similarly an online licensing system for Standard Forestry Operations Licences (those for works affecting badgers) went live in July 2020, with plans underway to deliver an online gull licensing system in early 2022.

Police Scotland – firearms licensing

Police Scotland may revoke or refuse the renewal of a shotgun or firearm certificate in circumstances that demonstrate that the holder is no longer deemed to be suitable.

If a firearm certificate holder commits an offence, the Firearms and Explosives Licensing department for the relevant division in which they reside is notified of this and thereafter a report is initiated to examine the person's continued suitability to possess a shotgun or firearm. If a person subsequently has their shotgun or firearm certificate revoked, this would be in terms of the Firearms Act 1968 and not the original offence(s), regardless of the outcome at Court, as they would still have to be assessed on their suitability to possess firearms.

Accordingly revocations and refusals are currently recorded under the Firearms Act 1968 and it is not possible therefore to determine whether wildlife crime offences form part of the suitability consideration process.

Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Scottish SPCA) and their Special Investigations Unit (SIU) can lead or support certain wildlife crime investigations in Scotland. Powers are granted to suitably trained staff by Scottish Ministers under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006.

Scottish SPCA inspectors deal with routine domestic and wildlife welfare cases. The SIU has a slightly different remit dealing with cases which are linked to illegal activities often involving serious and organised crime groups. The SIU deals with both wildlife incidents and incidents involving domestic animals such as dogfighting and the puppy trade. Some of the SIU's work involves incidents where there is both a domestic animal and wildlife element such as badger baiting. The SIU consists of five inspectors and one intelligence manager.

The SIU receives information (and complaints) from two main sources – the Scottish SPCA animal helpline will alert the SIU to any information that may be of interest, and some information is fed directly to the unit from intelligence sources and other agencies through intelligence logs and reports.

The Scottish SPCA's animal helpline received over 224,000 calls between April 2020 and March 2021. This fiscal year has seen an increase of 69% in calls from the public compared to the previous fiscal year. The overall increase in calls can be attributed to the low welfare puppy trade that escalated sharply throughout the covid pandemic and resulting restrictions.

The SIU estimate that between April 2020 and March 2021 they received:

• 645 pieces of information for consideration from the Scottish SPCA helpline
• 414 pieces of information from other sources. Some pieces of information may relate to incidents that after investigation are found to not be the result of crime, may not actually involve wildlife, or are duplicate pieces of information relating to the same incident

Table 11 provides a further breakdown of incidents where the SIU identified a crime had taken place, including those reported to COPFS, listed under the six UK wildlife crime priority areas. These incidents were for cases investigated solely by the SIU.

Table 11: Wildlife incidents identified by SIU as crimes from April 2020 to March 2021

Type of wildlife crime	Pieces of information identified as crime	Reported to COPFS
Badger persecution	34	7
Illegal trade (CITES)	1	1
Raptor Persecution	14	2
Bat Persecution	0	0
Poaching and coursing	11	0
Freshwater pearl mussels	0	0
Other	35	2
Total	95	12

Source: Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

The statistics in Table 11 regarding reports submitted to COPFS reflect the number of reports that were submitted following investigations carried out within the year (April 2020 – March 2021) although these case reports may have been submitted to the fiscal after 31^st March 2021. The incidents in Table 11 also included 15 relating to trapping or snaring offences.

A significant case investigated by SIU in 2020-21 included an individual who had been reportedly involved in animal fighting and badger baiting. This individual was responsible for training his dogs for the purpose of animal fighting and had captured videos and photographs of his dogs attacking foxes and badgers under his supervision. The level of cruelty seen in these videos was said to be the worst levels of cruelty witnessed by the reporting inspector. This case has since come to a positive conclusion with the reported individual receiving a custodial sentence as well as a ban on owning or keeping animals. Although the SIU was disappointed that following the recent change to sentencing for animal cruelty offences, a harsher sentence was not given by the courts.

The SIU report cases directly to COPFS. As a result, any crimes or suspected crimes investigated solely by the Scottish SPCA will not appear in the Police recorded crime statistics shown in Table 1 of this report. If reported for prosecution however, they will be included in the COPFS figures and those cases will have been given a Scottish Criminal Records Office number.

Not all incidents identified as crimes will provide sufficient evidence for a prosecution to be progressed to COPFS. Table 12 below shows a five-year summary of wildlife related investigations led by the SIU, including those reported to COPFS. Table 12 also shows the number of investigations where the SIU supported investigations led by Police Scotland.

Table 12: Wildlife crime investigations dealt with by SIU, 2016-17 to 2020-21

	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
Incidents investigated solely by SIU	73	88	112	103	102
Number of cases reported to COPFS	4	0	9	9	7
% reported to COPFS	5%	0%	8%	9%	7%
Police Scotland-led investigations assisted by SIU	42	37	42	44	38
Total	115	125	154	147	140

Source: Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU)

The National Wildlife Crime Unit has a dedicated intelligence function. All intelligence relating to wildlife crime in Scotland is gathered by the NWCU and researched on a weekly basis to identify emerging trends and to prepare tactical and strategic analysis. In addition, for the 2020-21 year, the following bespoke intelligence analysis was provided for Scotland:

• Intelligence research carried out to assist Police Scotland with Operation WINGSPAN.
• Analysis of top Hare Coursing nominals to direct targeting of resources.
• Update of the Operation Easter target list – to support and direct proactive targeting across Scotland
• Crime Pattern analysis for Operation EASTER was updated – including Scottish locations.
• Intelligence database checks carried out on behalf of Police Scotland wildlife crime officers.
• Consultation on the use of illegal wildlife trade seizure data that NWCU supply to the EU-TWIX^[1] network on behalf of all UK police forces
• Quarterly submission of reports to the Acquisitive Crime Threat Group which includes all links to Scottish investigations
• Wildlife Crime cases for each priority area continue to be added to the NWCU website ensuring it acts as a 'one stop shop' for all wildlife crime information in the UK.

Over and above the NWCU's intelligence and analytical support, the NWCU's Scottish Investigative Support Officer (SISO) provides advice and 'on the ground' support for wildlife crime investigations.

In 2020-21, the NWCU ISO was involved in casework as well as the strategic development of wildlife crime enforcement and intelligence sharing. The SISO gave advice and assistance to Police Scotland Wildlife Crime Liaison Officers and other organisations on numerous occasions and on a variety of subjects including crimes against raptors, bats, non-native species, freshwater pearl mussels, traps, snares, wildlife disturbance, coastal crime, hare coursing, venison dealing and trade in endangered species (CITES).

Throughout the year, contributions were provided to several operations involving raptor crime and the annual delivery of Operation Easter to target egg thieves and nest disturbance during the bird breeding season. Crime prevention measures to mitigate the risks that persecution posed to the South of Scotland Golden Eagle project on both sides of the border continued and similar measures were taken in partnership with the Cairngorm National Park Authority to safeguard satellite tagged eagles in the Cairngorms.

The SISO gave presentations at several events throughout the year including local and national Police training, Sharing Good Practice events, PAW Scotland partners and the UK Wildlife Crime Enforcer's Conference. An on-going element of the role continues to include participation in several PAW Scotland groups (Poaching & Coursing, Media, Freshwater Pearl Mussel and Raptor), Heads up for Harriers project and General Licence restrictions.

Police Constable Charlie Everitt retired in 2020 and in November 2020 was replaced by Police Constable Gavin Ross as the NWCU SISO. Constable Ross concentrated on partnership working in his initial months in the role and between December 2020 and April 2021 had introductory meetings with 16 different organisations.

The NWCU works with Police Scotland to produce intelligence products which are based upon analysis of intelligence. Table 13 provides a summary of wildlife crime intelligence logs, broken down by relevant keyword. This table has been included to provide a clearer picture of the spread of wildlife crime intelligence dealt with by Police Scotland and the NWCU and reflects the kind of information which is being reported to the Police.

Table 13: Scottish wildlife crime intelligence logs 2020-21

Keyword	Intelligence logs	% of total
Hare	120	23.35%
Fish	102	19.841%
Deer	65	12.65%
Raptor/Bird of Prey	20	3.89%
Badger	18	3.5%
CITES	2	0.39%
FWPM/Pearl Mussel	2	0.39%
Bat	0	0.0%
All 'other' wildlife	185	35.99%
Total	514

Source: Scottish Intelligence Database/NWCU (used with permission of Police Scotland)

It should be noted that an intelligence log is not a detected crime but a tool for Police to use to establish a bigger picture of what is happening in a given area. A single incident may generate a number of pieces of intelligence. Intelligence logs cannot be used to (a) directly compare year on year or (b) comment on long term trends, as they are reviewed on a yearly basis and deleted if grounds for inclusion for policing purposes no longer exist. As a result, the number of intelligence logs for any given year decreases over time.

Table 14 provides a summary of the three most common types of priority intelligence log (i.e. not including the 'Other' category) held in the database for 2016-17 to 2020-21.

Table 14: Most common priority NWCU intelligence logs 2016-17 to 2020-21

Year	Three most common priority intelligence types (as a percentage of the total number of intelligence logs)
2016-17	Hare (23%), fish (18%) and deer (17%)
2017-18	Hare (29%), deer (15%) and fish (13%)
2018-19	Hare (25%), deer (21%) and fish (11%)
2019-20	Hare (25%), deer (15%) and fish (14%)
2020-21	Hare (23%), fish (20%) and deer (13%)

Source: Scottish Intelligence Database/NWCU (used with permission of Police Scotland)