Wildlife crime is any illegal act that affects certain:

• birds
• animals
• plants
• where they live

It includes:

• theft
• injury
• deaths of animals, birds, and plants
• damage to where they live

Wildlife crime also impacts people who rely on wildlife for their work or tourism.

You can learn more about what wildlife crime is and how it’s tackled on the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit website.

Examples of wildlife crime

Examples of wildlife crime include:

• damaging Sites of Special Scientific Interest
• disturbing sea mammals
• using traps and snares illegally
• picking cockles illegally
• removing bird nests from houses at certain times of the year
• hurting, killing, or disturbing bats, or damaging where they live
• hurting or killing badgers, or damaging where they live
• hurting or killing birds of prey, taking their eggs, or damaging their nests
• taking, injuring, or killing freshwater pearl mussels
• buying or selling animals and their products illegally
• poaching and coursing

Wildlife crime is not about:

• pets
• livestock
• dangerous dogs
• stray dogs (contact your council)
• licenses for dangerous wild animals (contact your council)

Incidents that involve these types of animals can still be crimes. If you’ve witnessed anything like this, you should report it to us.

If you want to tell us about wildlife crime, you can report it online, by phone, or in person.

Report it using our online form

Learn about other ways you can report a crime to us

Information you can include in your report

When you report wildlife crime to us, it can help to include information like:

• the date and time of the incident
• what the weather was like
• a map reference or a GPS reading of where the incident happened and where you were when you saw it
• a description of the person(s) involved, such as their gender, age, height, hair colour, and clothing
• registration numbers, make, model, and colour of any vehicles involved
• photos, videos, or a drawing of the incident
• any other witnesses’ names and contact details

If you’ve seen evidence of a wildlife crime, you should:

• not disturb the scene by moving items or walking over the area
• not touch dead animals or birds
• cover poison or poisoned animals to stop other animals or people touching them
• do not move or damage hides, high seats, and shooting butts or legal traps (they’ll have a tag or sign)