MBE for Alan
Joan Childs (RSPB Images)
Congratulations to Alan Stewart on
his MBE for services to Tayside
Police and the prevention and
detection of crimes against wildlife
in the New Years Honours list.
Formerly an Inspector in Tayside
Police, Alan is now a civilian WLO
playing a major role in Operation
Easter and the Partnership for Action
Against Wildlife Crime (Scotland).
And finally…
Be prepared
The National Bird of Prey Centre at Newent, Gloucestershire runs bird of
prey handling courses for police WLOs. Here, WLO Steve Downing from
West Yorkshire (middle) receives instructions from Mark Parker under the
watchful eye of a juvenile bald eagle. Phone 01531 820286 for details of the
next courses.
The RSPB
Ronnie Sewell
retires
Ronnie Sewell, who retired recently
PC Ronnie Sewell of Strathclyde
Police, the WLO for Dumbarton and
Strathclyde since May 1993, retired
from the force in the summer of last
year. A popular figure within the
police and NGOs, he became one of
the most experienced WLOs in
Scotland noted for his tenacity in
investigating wildlife cases. Ronnie
dealt with a number of high-profile
prosecutions, including cases of
peregrine trapping, egg collecting
involving osprey and white-tailed
eagle and poisoning incidents. He
will be missed by colleagues and the
RSPB, and we hope that his
experience will still be available to
those stepping into his shoes.
A shot, but alive, barn owl was
recently found on a Scottish
shooting estate. A local WLO set
out to investigate the matter and
visited the Estate Factor as part of
his diligent enquiries, and spoke to
him about the incident. Using an
interesting line of denial the Factor
commented, ‘It couldn’t have been
one of our keepers – they’re all
excellent shots and would have
killed the bird!’
Write to be read
We welcome contributions to
Legal Eagle. Please let us know
about wildlife crime initiatives,
news, events and prosecutions in
your Force. Send your articles to
the Editor, Joan Childs, RSPB
Investigations Officer by e-mail to
joan.childs@rspb.org.uk or on the
Investigations Section’s direct fax
number 01767 691052. The views
expressed in Legal Eagle are not
necessarily those of the RSPB.
RSPB UK Headquarters, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire
SG19 2DL. Tel: 01767 680551
RSPB Scotland Headquarters, 25 Ravelston Terrace, Edinburgh
EH4 3TP. Tel: 0131 311 6500
The RSPB works with bird and habitat
conservation organisations in a
global Partnership called BirdLife
International.
Registered charity no 207076
RSPB South Wales Office, Sutherland House, Castlebridge,
Cowbridge Road East, Cardiff CF11 9AB. Tel: 0029 2035 3000
RSPB Northern Ireland Headquarters, Belvoir Park Forest,
Belfast BT8 7QT. Tel: 028 9049 1547
23–1274–00–01
LEGAL EAGLE
The RSPB’s investigations newsletter
Judges back prison
sentences for CITES
offences
What does the CRoW
Act mean to you?
Pages 6–7
RSPB – up all night in
Ayia Napa!
Page 8
WLO
APRIL 2001
N0. 28
Sissen was sentenced to 21⁄2 years in
prison at Newcastle Crown Court in April
2000 for smuggling three Lear’s macaws
and six blue-headed macaws into the UK
(see Legal Eagle 25). The Lear’s macaw is
one of the most endangered birds in the
world with a wild population thought to
number only about 150 individuals.
Evidence produced at the trial showed
that Sissen had bought the birds from
dealers in Yugoslavia and Slovakia and
had smuggled them across Europe to his
farm in Yorkshire concealed in a car.
Sissen lodged an appeal on three
grounds: that the EU CITES regulations
were not directly applicable in the UK; that
even if they were directly applicable he
could not be prosecuted in the UK for an
offence which he first committed when he
crossed the external EU boundary in
Austria; and that CEMA was in conflict
with the European Communities Act 1972
and therefore separate domestic
legislation was required to create the
necessary offences.
The judges dismissed all three points of
law, although they reduced Sissen’s
sentence to 18 months after taking his age
G Shorrock (RSPB Images)
Met triumphant in
‘Get Stuffed’ saga
Page 4
Three Appeal Court Judges have called
for offences involving trade in endangered
species to be punishable by immediate
custodial sentences following the failure
of macaw smuggler Harry Sissen’s appeal
at the Royal Courts of Justice on
8 December 2000. The judges also made
important rulings concerning the Customs
and Excise Management Act (CEMA),
the EU Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)
regulations, and the Control of Trade
in Endangered Species (Enforcement)
Regulations (COTES).
Two of the Lear’s macaws smuggled into
the UK by Sissen
into account. However, in an important
summing-up Lord Justice Kennedy,
Mr Justice Longmore and Mr Justice
Ouseley stated,
‘It must be recognised that trade in
endangered species is prohibited or
restricted for good reason. Whether the
reason for the breach of the restriction
is profit, obsession or conservation
according to the lights of this appellant,
all contribute to the illegal market which
underlies the capture of these endangered
species from the wild. The law is clear
as to where the interests of conservation
lie. These are serious offences. An
immediate custodial sentence is usually
appropriate to mark their gravity and
the need for deterrence.’
R-v-Henry Thomas Sissen
Case No 00/2782/Z2
Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
8 December 2000
COURT CASES COURT CASES COURT CASES
Pigeon/buzzard confusion story rejected
Mark Hamblin (RSPB Images)
When a member of the public
spotted three men climbing a tree
containing a buzzard nest at
Pentwyn, Cardiff, on 12 June 2000,
PC Mike Musgrove stopped the
men walking away from the nest,
and found they were in possession
of a buzzard chick. The men
claimed that they thought the
chick was a pigeon.
On 22 November 2000, Keith
Anthony Marshall from Bronte
Crescent, Mark Blackmore from
Ashburton Way and Peter Lyons
from Dunster Road, all from
Llanrumney, Cardiff appeared at
Cardiff Magistrates’ Court charged
with the taking and possession of a
buzzard under Sections 1(1)(a) and
1(2)(a) of the Wildlife and
Countryside Act 1981. All three
pleaded not guilty, but they were
all found guilty of the taking
offence and were each fined £125
plus £100 costs. All their climbing
equipment was confiscated.
The buzzard chick was successfully
released back into the wild.
A buzzard. Not easily confused with a pigeon.
Gamekeeper
acquitted of
poisoning
Magistrates ‘fail to
understand egg
collecting’
Responding to information from a local
gamekeeper, PC Graham Milne of
Durham Constabulary stopped and
searched a man near Tunstall
Reservoir, Co Durham on 25 May 2000
and discovered a number of freshly
blown eggs in the man’s car. Robert
William Thompson of Valhalla,
Meadow Close, Houghton-le-Spring,
Co Durham pleaded guilty at
Sedgefield Magistrates’ Court on three
counts of taking and possessing
common sandpiper and chaffinch
eggs, and possessing items – cotton
wool and boxes – for the purpose of
committing an offence. He was fined a
total of £3,100.
When stopped, Thompson remarked
that, as regards egg collecting, PC
Milne ‘wouldn’t understand’ what it
was all about. Judging by the size of
the fine the Magistrates didn’t
understand either!
2
A gamekeeper at the West
Glenalmond Estate in Scotland has
been acquitted of charges brought
under the Wildlife and Countryside
Act 1981 relating to the killing of a
golden eagle and a buzzard by
setting poisoned baits. David Benvie
Campbell of Amulree had also been
charged with attempting to kill a
peregrine or a golden eagle by
setting poisoned baits, but was
acquitted on 20 December 2000 at
Perth Sheriff Court. The incidents
were alleged to have taken place in
October and December 1998.
COURT CASES COURT CASES COURT CASES
Finch
trapper
convicted
RSPCA Inspector Jim Lucas reports on
a finch trapping case in Birmingham.
‘In May 1999 Police and RSPCA
officers visited the home of Ronald
Snow in Bringewood Grove, Bartley
Green, Birmingham as part of
Operation Ravine, an investigation
into the trapping and selling of
British finches.
Margaret Overend (RSPB Images)
‘Snow kept several lofts of pigeons as
well as three aviaries containing a
mixture of canaries and finches. Four
greenfinches and one siskin were
seized along with a substantial
quantity of traps and nets. In interview
Snow admitted trapping a small
number of birds per year to replace
losses in his aviaries, but denied
selling any of the birds he caught.
One of the lucky 90 ducks being released at Fairburn Ings
Serious fowl play
Jackson was also found guilty on 18
January 2001 of a further two offences
after admitting in interview to releasing
16 wood ducks and eight mandarin
ducks to the wild. Neither species
occurs naturally in the UK, and it is an
offence under Section 14 of the Wildlife
and Countryside Act 1981 to release
non-native species, or allow them to
escape into the wild. Jackson was also
charged with using a boat to commit
the offences.
In court Jackson pleaded guilty to all
eight charges and was fined £150 and
ordered to pay £200 compensation to
the RSPB. Unemployed Jackson was
told that the offences had to be judged
very seriously and were it not for his
personal circumstances he would have
been fined far more heavily. RSPB
Investigations Officer Mark Thomas
said, ‘PC Mick Dean of Nottinghamshire
Constabulary is to be congratulated on
his efforts on this case.’
Gerald Downey (RSPB Images)
Paul Jackson, a waterfowl breeder of
Hallcroft, Retford, Nottinghamshire,
was found guilty of six charges relating
to an incident at Lound Gravel Pits in
Nottinghamshire. Jackson was caught
taking 162 wild birds’ eggs and six
ducklings belonging to tufted duck,
gadwall and mallard on 11 June 2000.
Ronald Snow pleaded guilty on 10
May 2000 at Birmingham Magistrates’
Court to being in possession of three
clap nets and three home-made cage
traps with the intention of using them
to commit offences, contrary to
Section 18(2) of the Wildlife and
Countryside Act 1981. He also pleaded
guilty to possessing four wild
greenfinches contrary to Section 1(2)
of the Act. The Magistrates sentenced
Snow to a 12 month conditional
discharge, and ordered him to pay
£222 towards the costs. Snow was
summonsed for possession rather than
trapping, as the date they were taken
from the wild could not be established.
The eggs were hatched and the
ducklings reared by Mansfield Bird
Rescue and the Wildfowl and Wetland
Trust and eventually over 90 were
successfully released at the
RSPB Fairburn Ings Nature
Reserve, Yorkshire.
Please release me: the siskin
3
PROSECUTIONS PROSECUTIONS PROSECUTIONS
Met triumphant in ‘Get Stuffed’ saga
‘When WLOs Inspector John Francis
and Sgt Ian Knox entered the Get
Stuffed taxidermy shop on 10 March
1998 they can hardly have imagined
the complex investigation it was to
become or the protracted legal battles
that lay ahead. The search of three
addresses formed part of Operation
Charm, the Met’s ongoing initiative
against trade in endangered species.
The police were assisted by officers
from the RSPB, RSPCA, TRAFFIC
International, HM Customs and Excise
and a Department of the Environment
of Transport and Regions (DETR)
Wildlife Inspector (see Legal Eagle 18).
They seized 65 specimens, including
tigers, a leopard, a gorilla skull, an
elephant tusk and a number of CITESlisted birds, including various native
birds of prey and a red-breasted goose.
The seizure triggered banner headlines
and photographs of the haul in the
national newspapers and on TV. This
prompted Sclare to apply for a judicial
review at the High Court, arguing that
he had been publicly humiliated in a
blaze of deliberately contrived publicity
as a result of a TV crew attending the
warrant. Although Lord Justice Rose
eventually dismissed the application,
he criticised the practice of allowing
film crews to accompany investigating
officers for immediate broadcast.
Guy Shorrock (RSPB Images)
When Robert Sclare, who runs
the ‘Get Stuffed’ taxidermy
shop in Islington, was
sentenced to six months
imprisonment for forgery and
CITES offences the Metropolitan
Police Force Wildlife Crime Unit
had finally got their man. The
conviction at Snaresbrook
Crown Court on 1 December
2000 follows a 21⁄2 year battle to
get the case to court, which
included a High Court
application for a judicial review.
RSPB Investigations Officer
Duncan McNiven explains.
Some of the specimens found inside Get Stuffed on the police warrant
‘After failing to have his complaint
heard in the House of Lords, Sclare
pleaded guilty to 27 charges of forgery,
having used three names in his own
handwriting on CITES permit
application forms. Sclare also admitted
to 14 COTES charges relating to illegal
buying, selling or displaying of
specimens for commercial purposes. It
was argued in mitigation that there
was no evidence that any of the
specimens were wild-taken and some
were antique. Sclare was also said to
be paying off legal fees of £30,000 at
£500 per month for his failed attempt
at judicial review.
‘In sentencing Sclare to six months
imprisonment – three of them
suspended – Judge Diana Faber said
4
that she treated forgery of government
documents very seriously and it did
not matter whether the specimens
were captive bred or antique. All the
items that were the subject of a guilty
plea were forfeited.
Andy Fisher, John Francis and Ian
Knox of the Met’s Wildlife Crime Unit
deserve special praise for helping to
bring this case to court, and it shows
what a small but dedicated unit of
police officers with wildlife expertise
can achieve. It follows a number of
successful Met initiatives in recent
years which have recovered large
quantities of illegal wildlife products
including tiger bone, bear gall
bladders, rhino horn and Tibetan
antelope shawls’.
PROSECUTIONS PROSECUTIONS PROSECUTIONS
Please don’t shoot the mute!
Judith Smith, the County Bird
Recorder for Greater
Manchester, has spent many
years studying mute swans and
outlines some of the problems
these birds face.
Courtesy of Judith Smith
‘The population of mute swans has
increased four-fold in my area since
the national census in 1990 when I first
became interested in these beautiful
birds. Swans are obvious, fairly tame
and unfortunately an easy target for
vandals with air weapons. Last year I
recorded 29 shooting incidents
involving the death of several birds.
In fact x-rays show that most of the
older breeding birds I deal with are
carrying pellets.
A mute swan showing signs of being shot
Maiden flight for CRoW Act
On 31 January 2001 the Northumbria
Police, assisted by the RSPB, executed
a search warrant at an address in
Sunderland. An adult goshawk was
seized from the premises. The owner
of the bird was arrested by WLO PC
Paul Henery and questioned about his
possession of the bird. He was later
bailed pending further enquiries.
This is believed to be the first arrest
under the new Act. Enquiries into the
origin of the bird continue. See pages
6 and 7 for more information on this
important legislation.
The goshawk at the centre of the first arrest under the CRoW Act
‘Swans are fully protected but it is
extremely difficult to get offenders to
court, as shown by a recent case when
persons broke into a private site and
pumped 13 pellets into two swans. A
local WLO went to some trouble to
investigate the matter and traced an
address from a car seen at another
similar incident. Though not able to
get a warrant he was able to seize one
air weapon. The pellets were removed
from the swans and submitted with
the air weapon for forensic
examination, at a cost of £800.
Unfortunately no match was
obtained – perhaps the suspect
had another weapon.
Guy Shorrock (RSPB Images)
‘This type of vandalism seems to be
on the increase and members of the
general public are rightly concerned at
this slaughter. I would like to see
legislation controlling ownership and
use of air weapons. With the CRoW
Act it is now possible to get warrants
for these offences and I would urge
WLOs to investigate these matters
thoroughly to try to tackle this
national problem.’
Editorial comment: Half of the 46
reports of incidents involving mute
swans the RSPB received during 2000
were in Greater Manchester.
5
What does the CRoW Act
The Countryside and Rights of Way (CRoW) Act
2000 finally became law on 30 January 2001, after
a lot of hard work by the Partnership for Action
Against Wildlife Crime (PAW). In a special article
for Legal Eagle, Inspector Phil Cannings of the
PAW Legislation Sub-Group and WLO for
Bedfordshire Police, updates us on how the
CRoW Act will affect WLOs in England and Wales.
History
The basic points
The CRoW Act 2000 was a response to
a review by a working group set up in
1994 by the then Secretary of State, to
look at improving the enforcement
provisions of Part I of the Wildlife and
Countryside Act 1981 (WCA). The
group’s report led to the creation of
PAW, which considered the scope for
changes to the existing enforcement
legislation. PAW submitted its
recommendations in 1997, and the
majority of these recommendations
formed the basis of the changes made
in the CRoW Act.
In addition to strengthening the
enforcement of the wildlife provisions
under the WCA, the CRoW Act
reinforces the powers in relation to
Sites of Special Scientific Interest
(SSSIs), and Areas of Outstanding
Natural Beauty (AONBs) and creates
legislation for access to the
countryside.The important
amendments to the WCA as far as
enforcement is concerned are in
Section 81 and Schedule 12 of the
CRoW Act. The amendments give
greater protection to certain species of
birds and animals, provide for an
extension of the powers to obtain
search warrants and the provision of a
new power to enable the taking of
samples for DNA analysis. On the
procedural side, the CRoW Act also
changes the time limits for
commencing proceedings, increases
penalties for offences including
bringing in prison sentences for some
offences, and most importantly certain
offences under the WCA become
arrestable offences.
January 30 2001 was an important
milestone for the enforcement of
wildlife legislation in England and
Wales. While few of the PAW
recommendations for legislative
change were challenged during the
Bill’s passage through Parliament,
only a series of amendments and
much hard lobbying by the RSPB
and the Liberal Democrats prevented
the option for custodial sentences and
the creation of arrestable offences
from being omitted.
You must consult the legislation itself
before using the powers or offences
created by the CRoW Act.
6
Offences relating
to birds and
animals
The CRoW Act addresses a significant
shortfall in the WCA regarding the
offence of disturbance against
Schedule 1 birds or Schedule 5
animals. Qualifying the existing criteria
with the word ‘reckless’ in Sections
1(5) and 9(4) of the WCA means
conviction can be secured without
requiring proof of intent. So alongside
the existing protection, it is now an
offence to intentionally or recklessly
disturb a Schedule 1 bird and damage
or destroy a place that a Schedule 5
animal uses for shelter or protection,
or disturb a Schedule 5 animal while it
is using such a place. This brings these
disturbance offences on to a par with
interfering with a badger sett.
As cetaceans and basking sharks have
no specific places of shelter or rest, it
was difficult to apply the existing
disturbance offence to them under
Schedule 5. A new offence under
Section 9(4A) makes it an offence to
intentionally or recklessly disturb a
cetacean or basking shark. CRoW Act
2000 Schedule 12 paragraph 5.
Powers and
penalties
Under the CRoW Act magistrates have
increased powers to issue search
warrants under the whole of Part I of
the WCA. Previously, warrants could
only be granted for those offences that
attracted a special penalty or involved
sale, but this has now been extended.
CRoW Act Schedule 12 paragraph 7.
The Act also reconciles the different
time limits for initiating court action.
Prosecutions for all offences under Part
I of the WCA can now be brought up to
Colin Carver (RSPB Images)
t mean to you?
The CRoW Act allows the police to
require DNA samples from specimens
when they believe an offence may
have been committed, and from other
specimens where the constable has
‘reasonable cause’ that the sample will
identify or establish the ancestry of a
given specimen, ‘specimen’ meaning
any bird, other animal or plant or any
part of, or anything derived from, a
bird, other animal or plant. CROW Act
Schedule 12 paragraph 8.
Penalties for the majority of Part I
offences, are increased to up to £5,000
or six months imprisonment in the
Magistrates’ Court, or an unlimited fine
or up to two years in the Crown Court
for releasing Schedule 9 or non-native
species. CROW Act Schedule 12
paragraph 10.
Conclusion
The Dartford warbler – enjoys better protection from the CroW Act
six months from the date on which
sufficient evidence of the offence
became available to the prosecutor,
subject to an overall time limit of two
years from the date of the commission
of the offence. CRoW Act Schedule 12
paragraph 9.
The CRoW Act also amends Section 24
of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act
1984 (PACE) and makes several WCA
offences ‘arrestable’. In respect of
birds, this applies to Section 1(1), (2)
or (5), and 6 but only in relation to
Schedule 1 species. It also applies
to Sections 9, 13(1)(a) or (2) for the
taking and possession of certain
animals and plants; and Section 14
concerning the introduction of
non-native species. Usefully, this
opens up the full provisions of search
of premises during and following
arrest under PACE.
7
The CRoW Act 2000 gives considerable
extra protection to the important
wildlife and environmental sites in
England and Wales (SSSIs). Although
there are no similar provisions for
Scotland, a similar bill may well follow
shortly. For all its strengths, it is by no
means an answer to all the shortfalls in
existing legislation. Some anomalies
have already been identified and I feel
sure that others will be discovered in
time. I would be interested to hear of
any problems encountered in the
enforcement of these provisions
together with any other difficulties in
relation to the protection provided by
the existing legislation.
Inspector Phil Cannings
Co-ordinator, PAW Legislation
Sub Group
INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL
RSPB – up all night
in Ayia Napa!
Legal Eagle 27 reported on the situation in Cyprus where millions of migrant birds such as
robins, blackcaps and the more exotic bee-eaters are illegally trapped.
In September last year two RSPB
Investigators visited a well-used
trapping area near the popular tourist
resort of Ayia Napa. Foregoing a night
in the hotel, the intrepid duo slept out
overnight in the stony fields by the
trapping area. At around midnight a
number of tape recorders playing
birdsong – used to attract migrating
birds – burst into life and continued
throughout the night. At 5.30 am, two
trappers arrived in the semi-darkness
and erected tall mist nets among the
vegetation. At around 6 am a number
of hunters arrived in the area, shooting
at hares, partridges and generally
anything that moved, forcing the duo
to keep a very low profile! From a
concealed position the two trappers
were filmed driving birds out of the
bushes and into the waiting nets.
trapping offences and fined an
equivalent of £90. As trappers can
make hundreds of pounds on a good
morning it is not surprising that such
fines are little deterrent.
One of the men then systematically
killed every bird dangling in the net by
cutting their throats, collecting the
corpses in a bucket. The video footage
was later passed to the British
Sovereign Base Area Police,
responsible for policing the area in
question, who traced one of the men
involved. In January he appeared in
court and pleaded guilty to bird
The RSPB is liaising with the SBA
police with a view to improving
enforcement, and continues to urge the
Cyprus government to take these
crimes more seriously. More
background information and
photographs regarding the Cyprus
situation can be seen on the RSPB
website at www.rspb.org.uk under the
Recent News section.
Guy Shorrock (RSPB Images)
Stills from covert video footage showing a trapper cutting the throats of migrant birds illegally caught in a mist net
8
INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL
Stuffed black kite siezed
Carlos Sanchez Alonso (RSPB Images)
Phil Weaver, Customs
Wildlife and Endangered
Species Officer for the East
Midlands, describes a
recent case involving a
black kite.
‘Sgt Mick Bajcer, Nottinghamshire
Police Force WLO, contacted me on
12 October regarding the alleged
illegal importation of a stuffed bird
of prey from Pakistan. The specimen
had been purchased for £10 in
Islamabad market and imported
from Karachi as hand luggage three
years ago. Sgt Bajcar and Andy
Wroath, an anti-smuggler based at
East Midlands Airport, visited the
address of the importer, Mr
Manzoor, in West Bridgford,
Nottingham and seized the bird.
Taxidermist Don Sharpe and an
ornithologist at Wollaton Hall in
Nottingham identified the bird as a
black kite, a CITES Appendix II
species. Feather fractures showed
shot damage, a common method of
killing birds in Asia. The bird was
confiscated and ultimately
incinerated following an interview
with Mr Manzoor.
Poor standards of taxidermy in
stuffed animals, including old
museum specimens, can be a health
and safety risk. For many years
arsenic and mercury were used as
preservatives and desiccants, and
asbestos was used as a filler.
Generally, basic personal hygiene is
sufficient when dealing with stuffed
specimens, using gloves and face
masks as necessary, but if items are
likely to be touched – as they might
if they were used for educational
purposes – then seek some form of
health and safety certification from
an expert.’
Black kite – frequent shooting victim in Asia
Another Lear’s macaw
smuggler jailed
A bird breeder from Singapore has
been jailed for a year and fined
$10,000 for possessing two
endangered Lear’s macaws imported
without a permit. The birds were
found hidden in two separate bags in
premises belonging to Kuah Kok
9
Choon, director of Indah Fauna
Breeding and Research, who already
has a string of convictions and fines
in excess of $20,000 for smuggling
endangered birds and possessing
illegally acquired animals.
INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL
A ‘pants’
smuggling
technique
An Austrian botanist, Johann Zillinger,
has been arrested and charged with
animal trafficking in Rio de Janeiro,
for having 21 parrots, four parakeets
and two snakes in his luggage. He also
had five parakeet eggs in a sock tucked
into his underwear, apparently so they
would be at nest temperature. Since
some of the parakeets were newborns,
it is assumed that some of the eggs
had hatched. Environmentalists
believe the animal trafficking trade
in Brazil is worth more than $35
million a year.
Richard Brooks (RSPB Images)
Czech group takes
action against
bird crime
Tree sparrow – declined by 95% in the UK but common in Asia where millions
are killed for food.
One million frozen
tree sparrows
The judicial seizure of 1,236,000
(18.5 tons) of deep-frozen Chinese tree
sparrows in the port of Antwerp has
resulted in an important judgement
by the Antwerp Court of Appeals on
the protection of the tree sparrow in
the EU.
Dutch game trader Mr van Leendert had
imported the birds on 28 January 1997.
They were to be shipped to Italy where
they are fried and eaten as snacks. Van
Leendert was charged with having
caught, killed or destroyed, transported,
conveyed in transit and imported or
exported the tree sparrows. In his
judgement on 30 June 1998, the
President of the Court of Appeals said
that the tree sparrow must be protected
in all EU Member States.
The defence had said that as the birds
were Chinese tree sparrows and
therefore of a subspecies that does not
occur in Europe they could not
therefore be treated as a European
species. The Judge correctly interpreted
the van der Feesten ruling which
states that any subspecies of a species
which naturally occurs within Europe
is deemed to be that species regardless
of origin. (see Legal Corner page 11).
Van Leendert was fined 20,000
Belgian francs.
Declining in the wild in the UK,
tree sparrows have been imported
in large numbers from China for
human consumption.
10
A new project, supported by the
Regional Environmental Center
for Central and Eastern Europe
(REC) aims to reduce and prevent
birdcrime in four east
European countries.
The Czech Society for Ornithology
(CSO), Birdlife Partner in the Czech
Republic, has been working with
BirdLife International partners in
Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia on a
one year project called Joining
Europe Against Birdcrime since
spring 2000. All four BirdLife
International partners joined the
Eurogroup Against Bird Crime in
June 2000.
The CSO programme called Free
Wings focuses on all aspects of bird
crime in the Czech Republic, and a
group of experts has been
established to work on the project.
About 25 specialists from CSO, the
state nature conservancy, police and
other NGOs met at the beginning of
November 2000 at a ‘very successful’
workshop in Olomouc in the Czech
Republic to establish the Czech
Action Group against bird crime.
The participants hope to hold
another next year.
INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL
C H Gomersall (RSPB Images)
Dutch
geese
spared
the bullet
The Dutch government has banned the
hunting of geese. The wintering
populations of geese in The
Netherlands are of international
importance. Up to 10 species occur,
and the best winters can see the total
number reach over a million birds.
The new law states that farmers can
still chase geese off their land, but
they cannot kill them. In return, they
may receive compensation for any
crop damage. In an additional
measure, 20,000 hectares of land will
be specially assigned as wintering
areas where no disturbance of geese
is permitted.
Where geese may safely graze?
Legal corner
The van der Feesten ruling: Court of Justice of the European Communities Case C-202/94
re Godefridus van der Feesten
This ruling concerned the Wild Birds
Directive (Council directive 79/409/EEC)
and subspecies not occurring naturally
in the wild in the EU. The Directive was
implemented in Britain by the Wildlife
and Countryside Act 1981.
Article 1(1) of the Directive protects all
species which occur naturally in the
EU. However, some species are
composed of a number of different
races or sub-species, and some of
these occur outside of the EU. A subspecies may be based on
morphological or behavioural
differences but these criteria are not as
strict and objective as those defining a
species. If limited to subspecies within
the EU the Directive would be difficult
to implement and could not provide
effective protection for European
avifauna. The Court ruled that the
Directive did apply to a bird subspecies
which occurred naturally in the wild
only outside the EU if the species or
other subspecies of that species
occurred naturally in a Member State.
The RSPB is aware of large imports of
finches into Britain via Belgium. It is
believed many of these birds are wild
caught in eastern Europe then fitted
with an oversize close ring to try to
‘legitimise’ them. Some people appear
to believe that these are not ‘wild birds’
under the Wildlife and Countryside Act
1981 and may be sold. In the RSPB’s
opinion, supported by this ruling, the
11
law applies equally to species and
subspecies. If an imported goldfinch, of
whichever sub-species, is intended for
sale in the UK it must be captive-bred
and close ringed. For species on Part I
of Schedule 3 of the Act the close rings
must be those issued by the British
Bird Council (BBC) or International
Ornithological Association (IOA).
WLOs are asked to be vigilant when
finches are advertised or offered for
sale and to check the history of the bird
and the sizes and types of close rings
fitted. The RSPCA’s Special Operations
Unit is currently investigating a number
of such cases and would also be happy
to give assistance.