Insights from the Badger Trust-sponsored 33rd Annual Wildlife Crime Conference

Badger Trust’s Campaigns and Research Manager, Jes Hooper, meets UK police tackling badger crime

When I joined Badger Trust in early 2022 as the Campaigns and Research Manager (maternity cover), I did so with a pre-existing interest in the intersection between crime and wildlife protection. Having researched wildlife trade for a number of years, I was aware of the need to work with various stakeholders to tackle such a far-reaching and complex issue.

I was impressed by the interdisciplinary nature of Badger Trust’s Stop Badger Crime and PBA30 campaigns and how the Trust calls upon the government for legislative change whilst working diligently with police forces across England and Wales to achieve successful badger crime prosecutions. I was looking forward to working for Badger Trust to amplify this issue and to create outreach opportunities to encourage the public to recognise, record and report badger crime so that we can collectively protect native wildlife and local communities. It was, therefore, very exciting for me to be invited to attend the 33rd Annual Wildlife and Rural Crime Conference, to meet with police officers and priority delivery groups working to protect badgers and other wildlife from illegal persecution.

The Annual Wildlife and Rural Crime Conference was held in Staffordshire between 21st-23rd October 2022 and was attended by 232 police officers with representatives from 37 police forces and various NGOs working to tackle wildlife and rural crime. The conference was an opportunity to come together, learn from each other’s experiences, celebrate policing achievements, and develop the operational skills required to successfully protect British nature from criminals.

Organised this year by Craig Fellowes, Badger Trust’s Wildlife Crime and Training Officer and member of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), the conference has been a long-standing tradition for wildlife protection police officers. It was humbling to meet so many officers who have a genuine passion for wildlife and work tirelessly to tackle wildlife crime in an underfunded and under-resourced area of policing.

Progress Amidst Challenging Climate for Wildlife Crime Policing

The opening address from DCC Debbie Ford (NPCC lead for Rural and Wildlife Crime), and the NWCU update presented by CI Kev Kelly, highlighted the progress and achievements made in the fight against wildlife and rural crime in the face of limited government support. They gave credit to the officers and rural crime volunteers working outside of their primary role to advance the protection of British wildlife and rural communities.

Such sentiments were echoed in my conversations with officers from across the UK. They explained that they cared passionately for nature but that wildlife crime could often be “laughed at” and “not taken seriously”.

The progress made by the NWCU showed a different picture, as even with these challenges, the NWCU has expanded to target wildlife criminals. Priority groups came forward to speak of their successful prosecutions and the knowledge gained from their operations. All of this is being achieved with limited resources. Just imagine what could be achieved if these officers were adequately supported with time and funding or if legislation was robust enough to act as a true deterrent to criminals.

Link Between Wildlife Crime and Serious Organised Crime

Throughout the conference presentations, each wildlife crime priority group spoke of the link they found between wildlife crime and serious organised crime. A recent investigation into Hare Coursing found that 11 of 16 known hare coursing criminals were involved in serious organised crime, therefore building a strong picture of the wider community impact linked to wildlife crime activities.

Operation Brockwatch – a rural partnership between Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (USPCA) and the Northern Ireland Badger Group (NIBG) – was awarded National Recognition at the 32nd Wildlife Crime Conference for their work protecting vulnerable badger setts. Their work with police forces has uncovered a network of 150 organised badger baiters, who travel vast distances from urban areas to rural settings across county borders to participate in this horrifically cruel bloodsport. The organised nature of this network proves that badger baiting has evolved from a traditional rural pastime to the organised crime committed by those living in urban areas. The operation was recently featured on the television docu-series BBC SpotLight: ‘Exposed: Hunting with Dogs’. Dr Kate Tudor, Associate Professor in Criminology from Durham University, confirmed the link between rural and organised crime in her conference presentation, where she explained that criminals frequently exploit the vulnerable by recruiting young people to take part in criminal activities. This is something that Badger Trust has found with badger baiters, where criminal gangs will use the internet to promote badger baiting and recruit young people into their gangs through bloodsport participation. Dr Tudor went on to present some difficult home truths, that whilst many police officers take rural crime seriously, there is a damaging amount of distrust towards the police by rural communities. Again, movement was key as criminals operate across borders and county lines, taking advantage of the limitations placed upon police working within distinct jurisdictions. It was encouraging to see the police inviting conversations with academics whose research can help to improve operational procedures.

Badger Crime Workshops

In the afternoon, I attended two badger crime workshops, each hosted by Tris Pearce and DC Aaron Flint. Tris, well-known in Badger Trust circles having been a Trustee and a long-standing local badger group member, is an ecologist and badger enthusiast with over 20 years of experience in badger protection. DC Aaron Flint, chair and secretary of the Badger Persecution Priority Delivery Group, knows only too well the difficulties faced by police in trying to secure a successful badger crime prosecution. The workshops were aimed to help officers confidently identify ‘current use’ of badger setts, a status which must be proven to the courts when trying to secure a criminal conviction for sett interference.

Discussions after each workshop were very enlightening, as it was abundantly clear from police feedback that the lack of ‘notifiable status’ for badger persecution was a real issue. Many officers in the room expressed their frustration that it was unknown what the true national scale is for badger crime as these statistics are not recorded on the national police database. Notifiable status is something Badger Trust actively campaigns for in its PBA30 campaign.

Another concern was the lack of reporting by the public and Badger Group members. Here, I suggested that there may be distrust in the police by badger protection volunteers. I was met with understanding nods across the room when I explained that for Badger Groups, it could be extremely frustrating to report badger crime to officers who do not know that badger crime is a serious issue within their own jurisdictions. Again, it was understood that better data handling was needed to build stronger, more trusted relationships between police and volunteers.

My hope for the future is that volunteers learn that the police do care about protecting badgers, and that it falls upon us all to work together so that we can effectively recognise, record, and report suspected cases of illegal badger persecution.

In all, my time at the 33rd Annual Wildlife Crime Conference gave me an insight into the inspiring progress being achieved by officers across the UK working to end wildlife crime. All the police officers I spoke with throughout the event cared deeply about protecting badgers from criminal activities, whether a negligent crime or malicious crime, a crime committed by housing developers or cruel badger baiters.

What is Badger Trust doing to stop badger crime?

There are many ways that Badger Trust works to help police, volunteers and the public to tackle badger crime, and many opportunities for supporters to help stop badger crime.

The PBA30 Campaign

We're marking the 30th anniversary of the Protection of Badgers Act (1992) with our campaign – PBA30 Act for Badgers. The campaign calls on the Government to bring sentencing under the PBA up to date. There is clear inequality and unfairness in current legislation.

Under the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021, those committing the most serious animal cruelty crimes to a domestic animal in England and Wales can face prosecution with up to five years in prison. Similar animal cruelty committed against a wild badger can only be given a maximum of a six-month prison sentence under the Protection of Badgers Act. Badgers deserve to be recognised as sentient beings in need of maximum welfare protection in line with domestic animals. Six months is no deterrent. Five years is what is needed.

Together we call on the government to:

• Extend the maximum sentence for convictions under the Protection of Badgers Act (1992) from six months to five years, bringing it into line with Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021. This means offenders would be faced with a five-year sentence for the abuse of a badger, in the same way as they would for the abuse of a dog used in the same crime.

• Make badger persecution notifiable to the Home Office so that the real level of crime can be accurately assessed, reported on, and tackled. At present, wildlife crimes are not recorded in this way and there are no official national statistics. Increasing sentencing would, by default, make a crime under the Protection of Badgers Act (1992) a notifiable offence.

The Badger Watch App

While the conference highlighted a sticking point about recognising, recording and reporting badger crime, I have a particular hope that this can be overcome. The new Badger Watch App is a tool that will be vital for volunteers and police officers alike.

The Badger Watch app has been designed specifically to help the public and volunteers to recognise, record and report badger crime safely and confidently. The app guides users (the public and police) to identify signs that a badger sett is in current use.

Set to launch on 29th November 2022 alongside the ‘Wildlife Crime in 2021 Report’, the Badger Watch App will be a much-needed tool in the fight to Stop Badger Crime. It comes at a time more crucial than ever as the government continues its Attack on Nature and police continue to fight wildlife crime alongside their primary responsibilities with limited funding and resources.

Expert Witness Training Courses

To secure a prosecution under the Protection of Badgers Act, the court must be confident that the badger sett was in ‘current use’ when it was interfered with. This is where Badger Group members come in! Badger Trust and the NWCU want to recruit more ‘expert witnesses’, volunteers with expert knowledge of badgers, who can assist the police by confirming when setts are active.

Badger Trust is calling on Badger Group members to volunteer to undertake additional training to become expert witnesses to help police forces secure more badger cruelty prosecutions.

If you are a Badger Group member who would like to know more about becoming an expert witness, please email hello@badgertrust.org.uk.

How you can Act for Badgers

• Download the free Badger Watch App: Coming 29th November 2022!

• Support the PBA30 campaign

• Donate to support Badger Trust Police Training

• Join a Badger Group near you

• Sign up for Expert Witness Training – email hello@badgertrust.org.uk