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Big drop in wildlife crime convictions
Crimes involving marine mammals rose by 13 per cent.
Nature groups call on Government to do more to tackle problem.

The number of people being convicted of wildlife crimes has fallen by more than 40 per cent, the seventh annual Wildlife Crime Report has revealed.

In 2022, there were 526 convictions for crimes relating to wildlife in England and Wales, a fall of 42 per cent from the 900 successful convictions in 2021. The drop is much larger than the decrease in reported crimes during the same period, which fell by just under nine per cent from an estimated 4,885 to around 4,457.

Despite the small drop in overall crime, the report revealed a rise in the number of marine mammal incidents, which increased by 13 per cent, and bat crime incidents, which rose by 23 per cent.

The report was put together by Wildlife and Countryside Link, a coalition of 82 organisations. Following the publication of the report the group has expressed its disappointment that those harming wildlife are not being convicted.

Dominic Dyer, Wildlife and Countryside Link’s wildlife crime chair, said: “To put it simply, people who hurt wildlife are getting away with it, with a lack of convictions leaving them free to cause further suffering.

“Despite shockingly high levels of wildlife crime in recent years we’re not seeing higher levels of convictions to give nature the justice it deserves.”

There is no official data available on wildlife crime, with the estimated figures instead coming from reports to wildlife organisations made by members of the public. This means that the true number of crimes is likely to be higher.

Wildlife and Countryside Link has called on the Home Office to make wildlife crimes notifiable so that they are recorded in official Government statistics.

Mr Dyer said: “With the Government’s deadline to halt the decline of nature by 2030 getting ever closer, it’s time for ministers to take the issue of wildlife crime seriously. This means the Home Office making it a notifiable offence to help police forces identify crime hotspots and plan accordingly.”

Image © Shutterstock

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Applications open for MMI research grants

News Story 1
 RCVS' Mind Matters Initiative (MMI) has launched round two of its veterinary mental health research grants.

Researchers have until 11.59pm on Wednesday, 28 May 2025 to apply for a grant for research which reflects MMI's 2025 focus areas.

Only one Impact Grant was awarded last year, and so this year there are two Discovery Grants and one Impact Grants available. Each Discovery Grant is worth £5,000 and the Impact Grant is worth £15,000.

For more information or to apply, email researchgrants@rcvs.org.uk to contact the MMI team.

 

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News Shorts
Germany livestock import ban lifted

The UK government has amended its ban on the import of livestock, meat and dairy products from Germany.

Defra said the decision follows 'rigorous technical assessment' of the measures applied and the current situation. "If the situation changes, we will not hesitate to take necessary action in response to the FMD outbreaks in the European Union to protect our domestic biosecurity," it said.

The ban was implemented in January following an outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) near Berlin. Personal imports of meat, milk and dairy products will remain in place at a country level.