UoG research for International Fund for Animal Welfare highlights how criminals are evading justice

Research by University of Gloucestershire has informed an alarming new report commissioned by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) about how criminals who inflict suffering on wild animals, are evading justice.

The report, System set to fail – prosecuting wildlife crime, was commissioned by the IFAW from criminologists at University of Gloucestershire and Nottingham Trent University to document first-hand accounts of those working on the front line of wildlife crime.

The research included in-depth interviews with police officers, prosecutors and NGO representatives involved in wildlife crime investigation and prosecution, analysis of wildlife crime data and prosecution practice information.

With wildlife crimes occurring under a veil of secrecy often in remote places, the report revealed prosecutions were often unsuccessful due to a lack of resources, training, inconsistent approaches to gathering evidence, and the absence of a centralised recording system.  

This latest research for the IFAW involving criminologists from the University of Gloucestershire’s School of Business, Computing and Social Sciences was the second instalment of work on wildlife crime, exploring how a chronic shortage of resources and a lack of awareness of wildlife crime allow it to continue.

Previously, the Make Wildlife Matter report showed that there were mounting concerns about wildlife crime’s links to organised crime and aimed to galvanise the public, politicians, and organisations to press the government to better protect wildlife.

Nadine Harding (pictured left), Academic Course Lead for BSc Professional Policing at the University, said: “Our latest research highlights the lack of resources and priority afforded to wildlife crime across different parts of the criminal justice system. This is further exacerbated by issues with existing legislation and many wildlife crimes not being notifiable.”

A poll carried out by YouGov has shown that there is overwhelming support for wildlife crime to be taken seriously, with 97% of people believing that those who torture wild animals should be punished.

IFAW is calling on the new government to show that they are committed to taking wildlife crime seriously in the first 100 days of government by introducing new measures, including making wildlife crime a ‘notifiable’ offence and mandatory sentencing and prosecution guidelines. 

Catherine Bell, Director of International Policy at IFAW, said: “This research tells the demoralising tales of enforcers often fighting losing battles against criminals enjoying a lucrative free-for-all to exploit wildlife for greed. It’s a system set to fail.

“Wildlife crime presents low risk-high reward opportunities to organised gangs, who are often linked to drugs, firearms and other violent offences.

“If the new government wants to signal their commitment to protecting nature, then this is a golden opportunity.”