Tayside blighted by wildlife crime despite fall in incidents

20% of offences occur in the region, as national figures fall

A staggering 20% of all wildlife crime reported in Scotland now takes place in Tayside, shock new figures show.

The region has become a hotspot for all manner of bloody and illicit offences despite an improving national picture that has seen incidents fall by 8%.

Crimes such as killing of protected birds of prey and hunting with dogs accounted for more than a fifth of the 53 serious wildlife crimes reported in Tayside in 2015/16.

The number of crimes was unmatched, with only the North East (41) and Highlands and Islands (33) coming close.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust has cautioned such offences are likely to remain significantly under-reported, such is the difficulty in detecting incidents in remote and rural areas.

It has called for a “zero tolerance” approach to wildlife crime and has demanded tougher penalties and better rates of prosecution.

Of the 90 cases passed to prosecutors in 2015/16, just 23 led to prosecutions and only 16 resulted in convictions.

Overall, the Scottish Government’s latest annual wildlife crime report shows reported crimes have dropped to 261 from 284 in 2014/15.

Fish poaching remains the most common wildlife crime, though figures show offences have fallen from 101 in 2014/15 to 75 in 2015/16.

Bird persecution was the second biggest offence with 46 crimes recorded, down three from the previous year.

There have, however, been crimes that have seen a significant increase, such as reported incidents of hunting with dogs, which have more than doubled in the past 12 months

Figures show there were 44 hunting with dogs offences in 2015/16, up 24 on the previous year, and the highest number over the five-year recording period.

Hare coursing accounted for 38 of the offences and fox hunting for four, while deer were the target in two cases.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust’s director of conservation, Susan Davies, gave the “small reduction in recorded wildlife crimes” a cautious welcome.

However, she said: “It is likely the overall figures significantly underrepresent the actual number of crimes taking place, due to the difficulty of detecting incidents that often occur in remote, rural areas of Scotland.

“Wildlife crime comes in many forms, from uprooting plants to baiting badgers.”

Wildlife crime comes in many forms.

Bird persecution was the second biggest offence, with 46 crimes recorded.