Perthshire police chief in wildlife crime plea

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Perthshire’s new police chief this week urged residents to report any suspected wildlife crime activity.Area commander chief inspector Greg Burns stressed that wildlife crime “poses significant harm to species targeted by the criminals, as well as the communities who rely on wildlife for employment and tourism”.RSPB statistics, published last year, pointed to three confirmed incidents in 2021 aimed at birds of prey on land between Aberfeldy and Crieff.An illegal trap had been set in an April 2021 incident as well as two persecutions described as “other” in January and February that year.The Perth and Kinross figures for the previous year, 2020, included the shooting or attempted shooting of a peregrine falcon in November and the illegal trapping of a long-eared owl and red kite, both October, on land between Aberfeldy and Crieff.Chief inspector Burns said: “Wildlife Crime is any illegal act in Scotland affecting certain birds, animals, and plants including their habitats.“It includes the illegal disturbance, destruction, theft, and sale of animals and plants both in the countryside and urban areas, and also the damage and destruction of protected habitats.“Wildlife Crime poses significant harm to the species targeted by the criminals, as well as the communities who rely on wildlife for employment and tourism.”In April 2019 two satellite tagged golden eagles named Adam and Charlie – hatched in separate nests in Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park – disappeared in suspicious circumstances on land between Aberfeldy and Crieff.The remains of a satellite-tagged hen harrier was also found there.Chief Inspector Burns urged any witnesses not to interfere with any wildlife crime scene, but to note details of suspicious