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Poaching and rural crime

Gamekeepers and the shooting community are amongst those often most affected by, or witness to, poaching and rural crime. We are the eyes and ears of the countryside and often suffer the consequences of rural crime. Poaching can lead to a number of animal welfare issues.

It can cause serious loss of income from illegal taking of game and fish and the damage which many poachers do to crops and land. Those involved in poaching are often involved with many other rural crimes from theft of dogs and livestock to burglary.

We are committed to increasing awareness of poaching as a serious wildlife crime. We look to build better trust and relationships between the police and local communities, and as a result, improve prevention activity, intelligence and enforcement success.

Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime UK

BASC is an active member of the Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime UK (PAW UK).

The partnership helps statutory and non-government organisations work together to combat wildlife crime. Its objectives are to reduce wildlife crime through effective and targeted enforcement, better regulation and improved awareness.

Wildlife crime includes offences like poaching, killing or disturbing protected species, or damaging their breeding and resting places and illegally trading in endangered species. It is one of the pressures that can push animal and plant species closer to extinction.

The National Intelligence Model (NIM) takes an intelligence-led, problem-solving approach to crime and disorder. It promotes partnership working and uses the management of information and intelligence to operate at all levels of policing.

National Wildlife Crime Unit

BASC continue to support the work of National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) to help tackle poaching and other rural crimes. Through the BASC Legacy Fund, we have provided £40,000 to fund the Poaching module of NWCU’s new digital training academy. This makes critical training accessible to all police officers, allowing them to complete courses at their own pace and revisit material as needed.

UK Tasking & Coordinating Group

On behalf of the United Kingdom (UK) and devolved UK Governments, the NWCU through a high level group known as the UK Tasking & Coordinating Group (UK TCG), produces intelligence products which include a UK strategic assessment on wildlife crime and from which wildlife crime priorities are agreed.

The UK TCG can review and amend the priorities at any time. However, they are formally reviewed every second year (2023, 2025, etc) The current priorities which includes illegal hunting, poaching and coursing were launched November 2025.

Each PDG has a named plan owner, plus a lead for each of the three strands of prevention, intelligence and enforcement. Each group concentrates on the priorities that have been set, however they can also consider emerging trends. Any changes to the priorities must be done through the UK TCG.

Poaching Tactical Delivery Group (England and Wales)

To assist with tackling priority areas, relevant tactical delivery groups have been have brought together relevant organisations and police.

These organisations include BASC, the Angling Trust (AT), British Deer Society (BDS), Countryside Alliance (CA), Country Land and Business Association (CLA), CPS, Deer Initiative (DI), Environment Agency (EA), Food Standards Agency (FSA), NGO, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and National Farmers’ Union (NFU), the NWCU and serving police officers.

As a part of this joint working, forces have initiated very effective anti-poaching operations. An example of this is Operation Galileo which has now become a national operation to tackle hare coursing and poaching. As part of this, rural crime teams have increased patrols and worked closely with the the rural community, and other partners, to catch and deter hare coursers.

The Poaching Priority Delivery Group (Scotland)

This group in Scotland does similar work. It is led by John Bruce from the British Deer Society and BASC is represented by Peter Clark, who is the lead on the Prevention in Scotland.

Importance of reporting poaching

One of the issues surrounding poaching is that while it is a crime, it is not classed as a recordable offence by Home Office statistics. This means it is difficult to obtain accurate figures. Another concern is the amount of under-reporting of poaching and indeed other rural crime. It is therefore important that we act as one to combat poaching and rural crime therefore reporting all incidents.

What to do if you have poachers on your land

BASC strongly advises exercising extreme caution when dealing with poachers and other rural criminals. It is crucial to prioritise your personal safety and avoid taking unnecessary risks.
For a prosecution to have a good chance of succeeding it is often better to observe quietly and gather the evidence. It’s advisable to record an incident from start to finish whether that is through photos or videos etc or written notes.
You should report all incidents and information; however small you may think they are to the police (101 is the non-emergency number to report incidents). If you are being threatened or crime is in progress, then that is urgent and 999 should be used. Give the call taker as much information as you have, such as vehicles used, how many offenders, do they have firearms, etc. Also, you will need to give as good a location (apps such as what 3 words can be very useful) as you can, especially at night. It is also important to get incident or log number for what you are reporting.

You might be told that there is nobody to send immediately but insist on being given the incident/log number. Ask for the incident to be forwarded to the rural crime team if there is one and or the local beat officer. It is a good idea to do this whether police attend or not. Tell the call taker that this is a wildlife crime and needs to be recorded as such. This last point makes it easier to monitor the number of poaching offences and, hence, the true picture will emerge.

Please visit the website of your local police force to ascertain if email reporting of crime can take place as force areas differ

To report crimes anonymously contact:

Crimestoppers – 0800 555 111 – www.crimestoppers-uk.org