Freedom of Information Request - Endangered Species
Date: 13 October 2025
Our ref: SIR181811/A5510331
Information Request – Endangered Species
Your Request
“Under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, I request the following information for the past five calendar years:
1. Population estimates for Scotland’s endangered species (please list species with figures per year).
2. Documented losses or declines in populations, including cause where known (e.g., disease, habitat loss, poaching).
3. Number of reported poaching or illegal hunting incidents involving endangered species.
4. Outcomes of these incidents (e.g., prosecutions, convictions, warnings).”
Our Response
Following a search of the information we hold our response is below.
- Population estimates for Scotland’s endangered species
- Documented losses or declines in populations, including cause where known
We do not hold comprehensive population estimates for Scotland’s endangered species. A list of endangered species is available from Species at Risk (a spreadsheet can be downloaded and filtered for ‘endangered’) but it does not contain population estimates.
‘Red Lists’, which list endangered species, are typically updated quite infrequently (often every 20 years or less) and some groups have never been assessed, including most fungi.
Species covered by Habitats Regulations Reporting, which include several endangered species, do have population estimates in many cases. The Reports also include causes of population declines, where known. However, these are only updated every 6 years. The most recent reporting is available from the JNCC website.
NatureScot does track some species population trends, which will include population declines where relevant, and these are available from our website e.g.
Index of Abundance for Scottish terrestrial breeding birds, 1994 to 2023
Scotland's Indicators - Terrestrial Insect Abundance - Butterflies
Scottish Biodiversity Indicator – The numbers and breeding success of seabirds (1986 to 2023)
and for vascular plants in the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland’s plant
atlas. The latter presents data at a Scotland level and includes assessments of the cause of decline across the UK.
3. Number of reported poaching or illegal hunting incidents involving endangered species
We do not hold any records of illegal hunting incidents involving endangered species in the UK. Some endangered species are persecuted because they impact upon hunting (for instance some raptor species vs game shooting) but are not technically being ‘hunted.’
Poaching generally effects freshwater fish, deer, and hares. Poaching incidents may also have an impact upon endangered Atlantic Salmon local populations in Scottish Rivers. There were two suspected freshwater fishing incidents in summer 2025 in Angus. One incident was reported to the police by a third-party witness and NatureScot provided advice. We do not hold any information about whether the incident that was reported was recorded as a crime or not.
You may find the following Scottish Government report of interest, Wildlife Crime in Scotland 2023, particularly Annex 2 ‘Health of the Species’.
4. Outcomes of these incidents (e.g., prosecutions, convictions, warnings).
NatureScot does not hold this information.
The Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) is responsible for all criminal prosecutions in Scotland. Information on submitting an FOI request is available from Freedom of Information requests.
How We Handled Your Request
We believe you have asked for environmental information as defined in the Environmental Information (Scotland Regulations 2004 (‘the EIRs’), so we are dealing with your request under those regulations. To be able to use the EIRs, we must apply an exemption under section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (‘FOISA’). The Scottish Information Commissioner’s guidance recommends that public authorities apply this exemption to environmental information and handle request under the EIRs.
If you would like to find out more about the access to information legislation, there is a guidance booklet available on the Scottish Information Commissioner’s website.
Review and Appeal
I hope this information meets your requirements, but if you are dissatisfied with how we have responded to your information request, please write to us within 40 working days explaining your concerns. You can contact us at Battleby, Redgorton, Perth, PH1 3EW or email us at [email protected]. We will carry out a review of our response and contact you with our findings within 20 working days.
If you are not satisfied following this, you can make an appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner within 6 months. The Scottish Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9DS
Telephone: 01334 464610
Yours sincerely
FOI Officer,
NatureScot
