Freedom of Information Request - Wildlife crime incidents
Date: 13 October 2025
Our ref: SIR181809/A5488848
Information Request – Wildlife crime incidents
Your Request
“…could you provide for the past five calendar years:
- The number of wildlife crime incidents reported in Scotland, broken down by category (e.g. raptor persecution, badger baiting, deer poaching, etc.)
- The number of prosecutions and convictions resulting from those incidents”
Our Response
NatureScot does not hold this information.
Statistics on wildlife crime incidents can be obtained from Police Scotland. Information on submitting an FOI request is available from Freedom of 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.
You may also be interested in viewing the Scottish Government ‘Wildlife Crime in Scotland’ reports. The latest report is for 2023.
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
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