wildlife crime & animal welfare...welfare and in relation to animal and wildlife crime. it is my...

Winston Churchill Report

Wildlife Crime and Animal Welfare

Australia – New South Wales

&

Canada – British Columbia

Emma Meredith

2012

Wildlife Crime & Animal Welfare 2012

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Contents Page

Acknowledgements 3 Introduction 5 Aims of the project 5 Background to wildlife crime and animal welfare in Northern Ireland 7 Australia 8 Australian RSPCA 12 Wildlife Information and Rescue Service (WIRES) 25 Department of Environment and Climate Change 33 Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities 39 Canada 50 Environment Canada - Canadian Wildlife Service 56 British Columbia Conservation Officers Service (North Vancouver) 62 Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) 76 British Columbia Conservation Officer Service (Squamish) 84 Recommendations 88 Comparison table 93 Appendices 97


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Emma Meredith with a captive-bred common buzzard, a native raptor species in Northern Ireland, which are

often found to be the victims of wildlife crime and persecuted illegally e.g. poisoned or shot.

I have through this fellowship learnt so much and hope that I can offer my experiences and

knowledge with others as Winston Churchill once said:

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give”.

I have been fortunate to have been able to visit two destinations and I will take one section at a time,

stop, reflect and write about my findings and hopefully convey the depth of my experience. Winston

Churchill also stated:

“It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time”.

Emma Meredith

Winston Churchill Fellow 2007


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Acknowledgements

The first acknowledgement must go to Duncan Wilson who is a former Winston Churchill

scholarship traveller and who originally mentioned this scholarship to me. Not only has Duncan

(and Billy Finn) been supportive in my life over the recent years but when Duncan first mentioned

the scholarship to me I thought there is no way there is the chance to do something as great as this.

I would also like to thank the Police Service of Northern Ireland for supporting me and allowing me

the time and chance to study and research my passion worldwide.

A massive thank you to the Winston Churchill organisation particularly Julie and Jamie especially

for being so accommodating, helpful and quick to respond to my every need. I’m thankful that you

have been so patient with me especially since I’ve always wanted to complete my Winston Churchill

Scholarship however, on occasions external circumstances prevented me for a longer period than I

would have ever expected.

I would like to thank all the great people who made the Scholarship for me in both Australia and in

Canada I am not going to name each and every one of you as it would be my luck to leave someone

off but I will say Simon your wife’s salmon was exceptional in Canada! To all of you thank you for

your information you all provided and taking the time with me to discuss queries I had in

researching wildlife crime or this report would not have been written.

Finally, last but by no means least, I would especially like to thank my fiancé Marc (and soon to be

husband) for helping me find the places I needed to go to for meetings both in Australia and Canada

(and on occasions driving me). Thank you for being so open-minded and sharing this experience

with me and especially taking the time (I won’t say off work as you worked the entire time!) to

travel along with me on both occasions.


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Baby Daniel, when we visited Australia I was pregnant with you and then in Canada you were only

one year old. What a fantastic experience for a little boy. I hope you travel as much in later life and

learn about wildlife as you did when you were young. Love you.


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Introduction

I applied for the Winston Churchill fellowship in 2007 and very lucky and excited to be accepted

for this prestigious award to travel in the name of Winston Churchill to both Canada and Australia.

The award was to allow me to complete a study that not only was close to my heart but also directly

related to my role in Northern Ireland. Currently my role is as the only Wildlife Liaison Officer

(WLO) for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

I have been the WLO for the PSNI since 2007. My role is to offer advice, support and assistance to

local police who investigate an alleged breach in the wildlife and/or animal cruelty legislation,

therefore my current position is specialised. Throughout the years in post I have been able to

establish a number of excellent contacts in Northern Ireland and the UK and this provided me with

an excellent basis before setting off to work with other organisations abroad and examine how they

carry out investigations of animal cruelty and wildlife crime.

Aims of the project

The purpose of my fellowship was to increase my knowledge and experience in the area of animal

welfare and in relation to animal and wildlife crime. It is my intention to research, observe, analyse

and participate in the work of the leading wildlife organisations in Canada and Australia in order to

identify areas of best practice that could be adopted within Northern Ireland and also share my own

experiences.

My research was carried out over a period of five weeks with travel to Australia and Canada which

was divided between 2010 (Australia) and 2012 (Canada).

My first trip was to Australia between the 15th November and 2nd December 2010 where I had

meetings with numerous government and non-government organisations and discussions about


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wildlife crime and animal welfare issues. My primary focus in Australia was on animal welfare and

I was also able to spend a number of days observing the leading wildlife and animal welfare

organisations in Australia i.e. Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) and

Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service (WIRES). The opportunity of working with the

RSPCA afforded me the chance of working with the officers responsible for enforcing the Animal

Welfare Act and how they work in partnership with the police and National Parks & Wildlife

Service. I was also able to meet with government officials of the Department of Environment and

Climate Change at both state and federal levels.

My second trip was to Canada between the 17th April and 3rd May 2012 with main aims being to

meet with the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) to evaluate their processes for:

Inspections for possible breaches of legislation

Investigation and prosecution procedures

Gathering intelligence in relation to wildlife crime

Developing partnerships with other governmental and non-governmental organisations in

particular the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Secretariat for the

Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)

Education for the public in relation to animal welfare

Cross border co-operation with the United States authorities (United States Fish & Wildlife

Service – USFWS) in relation to animals and wildlife issues

I have also examined the legislation in Canada to assess whether the UK could learn anything from

their legislation. The report also highlights a comparison between Northern Ireland, Australia and

Canada and how working practices differ between these countries including how various

government or non-government organisations have responsibilities for animal welfare and wildlife

crime.


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Background to wildlife crime and animal welfare in Northern Ireland

To understand the study, it is important to highlight what animal welfare and wildlife crime issues

are. My current role is to offer advice, support and assistance to local police who are investigating a

breach in the wildlife and animal welfare legislation.

These are primarily the Wildlife (NI) Order 1985 and the Welfare of Animals Act (NI) 1972. Both of

these have recently been reviewed and amended by the local government in Northern Ireland, as the

Wildlife & Natural Environment Act (2011) and the Welfare of Animals Act (NI) 2011 respectively.

The latter has recently devolved some powers to the local councils for the investigation and

prosecution of welfare crimes.

Other legislation which I advise on include trading in endangered species internationally (CITES)

and locally (COTES), fishing laws, EU Habitats Directive, Game Laws etc. and therefore I cover a

wide and varied range of issues.

Key issues in Northern Ireland include badger baiting (fighting a dog or numerous dogs with

badger), illegal persecution of birds of prey (usually suspected shot or poisoned), dog fighting, illegal

deer stalking, poaching fish, general cruelty to animals (horses, dogs, cats etc), selling endangered or

licensable species illegally or without the correct documents. These are all examples of wildlife

crime or animal welfare issues which police in Northern Ireland receive reports about and will

investigate within Northern Ireland.

Part of my role as the WLO is to work in partnership with various external organisations to try and

establish a co-ordinated approach to the priority issues in Northern Ireland. The group called the

Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime (PAW) was established to ensure government and

non-government organisations work collectively to try and combat illegal activity in Northern

Ireland.


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The PAW group was established in 2007 and have progressed extremely well over recent years with

an increasing number of organisations joining and participating in events, designing and organising

wildlife crime leaflets and raising the profile of wildlife crime issues through numerous press

releases. The group is represented by a variety of organisations including conservation and animal

welfare charities and volunteer groups, government officials, the police, forestry, angling and

shooting organisations. This group is an excellent example of a strategic working partnership to

help combat wildlife crime to uphold the laws within Northern Ireland.

AUSTRALIA

Whilst researching prior to visiting Australia I was obviously very keen to identify whether an

equivalent to my role in Northern Ireland existed and therefore I began my research by contacting

the Australian police. I received an e-mail from Veronica Taylor NSW police which states the

following:

“Sorry we don’t have a unit within this organisation that looks after wildlife. In NSW, there are two

separate agencies that have two very specific roles. One is the Royal Society for the Protection and

Care of Animals (RSPCA) this organisations main area of responsibilities are animal welfare,

enforcing the Protection Against Cruelty Act (via Inspectors) as well as advocating for the protection

of animals. At a government level we have both state and federal departments of wildlife protection,

the NSW Parks and Wildlife Services www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au for example, manages the use,

maintenance and protection of all natural heritage and wildlife (flora and fauna). There are

Rangers who are employed by this agency whose role it is to ensure animals are not endangered or

hurt”.

Simultaneously, I contacted WIRES whose Chief Executive, Leanne Ayes explained by email:

“Our NSW police do virtually no wildlife rescue / crime etc. RSPCA do all wildlife prosecutions, they

can be contacted through their website www.rspcansw.org.au and search for the Inspectors”.

http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/

http://www.rspcansw.org.au/


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It seemed from the preliminary research emails I was receiving that there wasn’t an equivalent to

my role in Australia which was interesting as there already seemed to be a big difference in the way

another country investigated wildlife crime and who had responsibility for the legislation.

On Monday the 15th of November 2010 I left Belfast on the first (very early) flight to London

Heathrow, then on to an 11am flight to Singapore and the linking flight to Sydney, Australia. I only

arrived in Australia at 8pm on the Tuesday and have never been on such a long haul flight – what

an experience. By the time I collected car and luggage I arrived at the hotel at 11pm. McDonalds

was first and was fortunate to navigate to a spot to sit and eat my dinner opposite the Sydney Opera

House in the middle of the night (Photograph 1)! Being on the other side of the world and the

different time-zone meant it was only 8am on Tuesday morning at home. Jet-lag too was a new

experience and my first breakfast in Sydney was at 4am after not being able to sleep. Surprisingly

the shops and café were already open.

Photograph 1. Sydney Opera House by night for a McDonalds!


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On the 17th November I began to explore and to find my way around Sydney and utilised the time

to let my contacts know that I had arrived. I was so excited to see the Sydney Harbour, the Opera

House and Sydney Harbour Bridge (Photograph 2) and walked up George Street, which appears to

be the main street in Sydney. I visited the Sydney Royal Botanical Gardens and already began to

experience the wonderful array of unique wildlife that Australia has to offer. I spotted 18 different

types of birds including a masked lapwing (Photograph 3), sulphur-crested cockatoos (more

typically seen in pet-shops at home; Photograph 4) and channel billed cuckoo and saw my first

flying foxes hanging upside-down (Photograph 5) and flying through the city.

Photograph 2. Me in the botanic gardens looking across at Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera

House.


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Photograph 3. Masked lapwing in the botanic gardens.

Photograph 4. Sulphur-crested cockatoo perched in an Australian eucalyptus tree.


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Photograph 5. Flying foxes roosting upside-down in the botanic gardens.

I sat down in the gardens and started to realise the wonderful wildlife here and extent and size of

Australia. This was further confirmed when I got a taxi back to the hotel and the taxi driver

explained it is 3000km to Southern Queensland and how 600 kilometres to Australians is “just

around the corner”. That is equivalent of travelling from one end of Ireland to the other! I am still

trying to get used to the time change as I’m awake whereas at home I should be sleeping. After

settling in, my next stop was to meet with the RSPCA who are one of the main organisations I wished

to visit and obtain valuable hands on experience.

THE AUSTRALIAN RSPCA

The RSPCA www.rspcansw.org.au is a charitable organisation in New South Wales (NSW) with

their main offices in the suburbs of Sydney close to Bankstown. The organisation covers the whole of

Australia but there are 27 branches in NSW run solely by volunteers. They have over 70 staff in the

veterinary hospitals including veterinary surgeons, veterinary nurses and receptionists in four

http://www.rspcansw.org.au/


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veterinary hospitals. The Sydney Shelter (at Yagoona) offers one of the largest animal hospitals in the

southern hemisphere caring for up to 120 animals on a daily basis.

The main legislation governing animal cruelty in Australia NSW is called the Prevention of Cruelty

to Animals Act 1979 for which only police and RSPCA inspectors have the powers to enforce. This

legislation encompasses everything from neglect, maltreatment and dog fighting. The RSPCA

Inspectors also investigate, pet shops; sale yards; abandoned animals; drought stricken livestock;

continually tethered animals (more than 24 hours); “animal hoarders” (i.e. people with more

animals than they can look after) and acts of intentional harm and cruelty.

I found that there are 32 RSPCA Inspectors in NSW who hold two warrant cards one to be sworn

special constable and the other which is issued by the Minister of Primary Industries and Holders of

Prescribed Authorities. The cards are to authorise investigation and reporting of cruelty issues for

prosecution; this is dissimilar to Northern Ireland as the USPCA (RSPCA equivalent) have no powers.

The main animals that the RSPCA respond to cruelty complaints are dogs with approximately

10,904 complaints annually mainly for failure to provide veterinary treatment, cats and horses for

failure to provide food and water. According to the RSPCA 2010 annual report “the RSPCA NSW

received a total of 15,083 complaints relating to the alleged mistreatment of animals between the

1st July 2009 and 30th June 2010”.

The annual report shows that approximately 14,831 of the 15,083 complaints where attended by

RSPCA inspectors. There were five official cautions issued by the RSPCA Chief Inspector for leaving

dogs in a vehicle, abandoning a dog, failure of a television programme to provide notification to the

RSPCA for using an animal in a theatrical performance.

Furthermore, the RSPCA were responsible for issuing 95 penalty notices from 1st July 2009 to 30


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June 2010; initiating 101 prosecutions from 1st July 2009 to 30 June 2010 and charging 101

defendants with 607 offences. There were 244 incidents reported to the NSW police for

investigation in the first instance which highlights police may have a role in investigating

allegations of animal cruelty. These referrals were based on the urgent nature of the animal welfare

and proximity of the nearest RSPCA inspectors. The police primarily pass these reports to the RSPCA

for further investigation.

On Thursday 18th November 2010 I began work with the RSPCA at the Sydney Shelter and

Veterinary Hospital, Yagoona. The day began with a meeting at 10am with Marika Taylor who is the

volunteer co-ordinator and has worked with the RSPCA for six years. Marika signed me up as a

volunteer for the two days’ work experience so I could shadow some of the staff. Marika kindly

gave me a power point presentation on the health and safety issues, role of the RSPCA and a tour of

the centre. My first thought was the size of the centre which was huge I suppose to reflect the size of

the country especially when compared to animal welfare sites in NI. There was a large number of

staff employed, including inspectors, fund-raisers and support staff which was great to see as it is a

charity. Most of its funding is derived from public donations, legacies and private or volunteer

assistance.

Photograph 6. Arrival at RSPCA offices in Yagoona, Sydney


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Photograph 7. Main reception area at RSPCA veterinary hospital

Photograph 8. The RSPCA animal holding facilities at Yagoona, Sydney.


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Marika then introduced me to one of the 12 ‘Special Constables’ called Skye Adams. Skye has been

in this post for eight years and clearly enjoys every day of her work. Special Constables are afforded

powers under the welfare and wildlife legislation, probably the best way to describe them is ‘animal

police officers’. I worked alongside Skye and can honestly say that she is dedicated to her role, has a

vast amount of experience and knowledge and obviously puts the care of the animals at the

forefront.

Skye had a long list of jobs to complete today and it began with visiting a house to investigate report

of rabbits being over-crowded in a house in the Penrith area of Sydney. Skye and I travelled

approximately one hour to the house. This gave me an opportunity to hear about the work of the

RSPCA and to ask many questions about the legislation, powers etc.

We arrived at the house which I must admit I would have never expected there to be a welfare issue

at the house as it seemed really well kept but looks can be deceiving. Skye shouted “Hello” and

knocked the door, but the only response we received was a dog barking. When Skye established that

there was nobody home we walked over to the check on the dog. The water was filthy and the run

had obviously not been cleaned in a long time. The dog appeared healthy looking but did appear to

have not been walked in a long time or not been out of the dog run as greenery had grown over the

gate.

We then checked cages near the dog run. One cage held budgies and Skye felt they were over-

crowded but they still had water and food. The next cage had the rabbits for which the ground

seemed to be full of food but no water was available to them. Skye gave them water and explained

they still appeared to be healthy however, she would advise the owner to clean up their living

conditions.

The final cage held two pheasants – neither of the pheasants moved when Skye gave them water.


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The ground was extremely muddy and Skye then examined one of the birds which she felt was a

case of possible cruelty and it should be taken to the vet. This pheasant was seized.

Skye left her contact details and request for the house owner to contact her and we left. En-route

home I was able to question Skye about issues in the legislation again when the phone rang – it was

the owner of the house we had just visited. The owner was very calm and was told by Skye that a

pheasant was seized – he explained it was disabled. Skye arranged to visit the premises a week later

to follow up the conditions of the other animals and to offer advice on keeping the rest of the

animals. Once the RSPCA vet accessed the pheasant the decision was taken to euthanize it as it was

badly disabled and it would be more cruel to have kept it alive.

Photograph 9. Skye examining the conditions of a captive rabbit.


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Photograph 10. Seizing a pheasant from an aviary after welfare assessment.

Photograph 11. Pheasant seized prior to veterinary examination and euthanasia.


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Points I learned from today include:

RSPCA don’t accept calls from a 3rd party – the person reporting the possible offence must

have seen the issue.

RSPCA only receive 2% government funding which equates to the cost of one full time

inspector

Police have the same powers as the RSPCA

RSPCA do investigate wildlife crimes and welfare issues but generally pass the wildlife

queries that are not offences to WIRES

Five Animal Freedoms are promoted but are not considered legislation these are animals

right to have:

- freedom from hunger and thirst

- freedom from discomfort

- freedom from pain, injury and disease

- freedom to behave normally

- freedom from fear and distress

RSPCA have 27 branches and 32 Inspectors state wide

The local councils regulate stray dogs

People are allowed to keep dangerous dogs e.g. pit bulls but under specific restrictions.

Between 2009 and 2010 = 11,003 animals were adopted or re-homed

They run a suite of campaigns which includes regulation of live animal exports and

lobbying actions to government and the public such as “Ban Exotic Animals in Circuses”

“Choose Wisely” schemes e.g. avoidance of battery hens eggs, and discouragement of sow

stalls to have free range pigs

The local zoo take care of wildlife e.g. smuggled species

There are excellent working relationships with police e.g. Inspectors carry a police radio to

allow rapid communication.


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Legislation issues that may be useful in Northern Ireland:

Legal only to tie up a dog for 23 hours not 24 hours

Tethering a bird, incorrect cage size, feeding incorrect diet may be illegal

Checking on animals at least once every 24 hours is a stipulation in the legislation

On the spot fines i.e. $200.00 for no food/water, $500.00 for not taking an animal to see a

vet when required, $200.00 fine if a tether is too short. The person responsible is asked to

pay or surrender the animal.

Proving intent – offences can be passed to police as their Crimes Act legislation provides a

higher penalty e.g. five years imprisonment.

Aggravated cruelty under welfare legislation can be two years imprisonments or a $22,000

fine.

There is some legislation that appears to bring issues to NSW area

Tail docking is banned in NSW but not the other states. therefore people can buy a dog with

its tail docked and bring it into NSW

Pit bulls are not a banned breed but there are stipulations if members of the public which to

keep them e.g. can’t breed them,

The following day I left Sydney at 06.30am and arrived at the main RSPCA offices, Bankstown at

8.30am. I was able to talk to a few members of the RSPCA today including the Operations Manager,

Matthew French. Matthew explained the legislation and how his role was very office based since his

promotion to a management role. Matthew obviously had a lot of experience of investigating animal

cruelty.

Matthew kindly showed me some evidence from some cases which included a cat caught in a wall

which was successfully saved, a DVD of goat racing which was quite horrific and various other

general cruelty cases. Matthew explained that in NSW the RSPCA probably hold more powers than


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any other RSPCA area in Australia as each state is different and governed by different legislation. A

similar situation occurs in the UK and Ireland with regional legislation variations in Scotland,

England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

I was able to spend today meeting staff within the RSPCA offices and finding out the different roles

they carry out e.g. education role, marketing role, administration staff, fundraising department and

the 12 Inspectors who are responsible for prosecutions. Despite their responsibilities for the

legislation the RSPCA funding from government is to be minimal (approximately 2%) which only

pays for one Inspectors’ position. They are very successful in their role, but are dependent on fund-

raising although often find that that members of the public perceive them to be funded by the

government or a government department. In NI, only the statutory authorities have such

responsibilities and are directly funded by government.

Photograph 12. Some of the RSPCA NSW inspectors and management.

It appeared that there was no RSPCA direct link to a police liaison or wildlife officer as in Northern


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Ireland. Therefore the RSPCA seem to try and build relationships with the police locally as and when

required. A very surprising fact is that up until the legislation changed a few years ago the RSPCA

held powers to enter into a house if they suspected animal cruelty and therefore the police would

call them to work in partnership in relation to e.g. drug issues and animal cruelty where the RSPCA

could carry out the search in conjunction with the police without a warrant.

After finishing today at RSPCA, I was able to visit Bankstown and called into the local police station,

which was located on a road with my name-sake, Meredith Street! As RSPCA have confirmed there

appears to be no animal or wildlife specialist within the Australian police. That evening I explored

the area around Darling Harbour and watched a variety of cheeky silver gulls stealing ice-cream!

Photograph 13. Me outside the Bankstown local police station near to the RSPCA offices.


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Photograph 14. Me in Darling Harbour, Sydney.

Photograph 15. A cheeky silver gull in Darling harbour.


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Over the weekend I spent more time exploring Sydney and spent an afternoon and evening at the

famous Bondi Beach (Photograph 16), in north Sydney and watching the flying foxes at night over

the city from the roof of my hotel (Photograph 16). It was spectacular!

I was also able to meet my aunt and uncle who live in Sydney and I hadn’t seen them for many

years, but it was lovely to get out for dinner with them and to hear about their life in Sydney and

explain my experience and the Winston Churchill Scholarship.

Photograph 16. Bondi Beach in Sydney.


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Photograph 17. View from the roof terrace of my hotel in Sydney.

WILDLIFE INFORMATION AND RESCUE SERVICE (WIRES)

At the start of the week (22nd November) the Wildlife Information and Rescue Service (WIRES) was

my next stop. WIRES gave me the chance to see and work with native Australian wildlife and their

team of rehabilitators first hand. The function of WIRES is to rescue, rehabilitate and release

Australian wildlife; they also have a role in educating the public on wildlife. With the vast amount

of unique wildlife that Australia have the function of WIRES is vital as they have already lost one

animal through extinction called the Thylascine (Marsupial dog) in recent history and WIRES

explained they don’t want to lose anymore. Therefore, preserving the native habitats and animals is

one of the main priorities of WIRES.

It was very clear that WIRES have a good network of people dedicated to their aims and objectives.

There are 28 branches across the NSW state all with a local committee. WIRES handles over

150,000 wildlife calls a year, deals with over 50,000 animals a year and received less than 2%


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funding from the government. WIRES are a smaller organisation than the RSPCA and primarily deal

with wildlife where the RSPCA respond to cruelty issues; both organisations collaborate as they must

work in partnership for issues that include wildlife cruelty. WIRES do not have any investigative or

prosecution powers. WIRES appear to carry out a role that I am not aware exists in Northern

Ireland. When members of the public need advice or an animal rescued they contact WIRES. If one

of WIRES volunteers, which comprised a network of thousands across NSW are unable to collect the

animal and care for it then WIRES have two full-time, paid drivers who collect the animals and

assist the public I was interested to work with one of the drivers to observe their work.

I firstly met with Leanne Ayres the Chief Executive of WIRES who introduced me to Barry

Alexander. I spent the next two days shadowing Barry to understand the working relationships they

have with other organisations and local volunteers and how they deal with the demands of injured

native animals’ daily and gaining experience of wildlife in Australia.

Photograph 18. Barry, WIRES staff member, who collects and rehabilitates Australian wildlife.


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Following my induction and meeting with the WIRES staff I spent the remainder of day with Barry

and he kindly took me out to all his callouts. We released a diamond python, collected an injured

possum from a building site. This was the first marsupial I have seen up close. Marsupial animals

have a pouch for care of their young and are unique to Australia.

We then released a blue tongued lizard and received a call to collect a lizard from a park but

unfortunately the person who called it in didn’t leave their details and therefore we couldn’t find it.

The day ended by calling at a house of a person who had tortoises and felt they didn’t want them

anymore and wanted advice on releasing them. However, the person wasn’t home when we called

so that was the first call for tomorrow.

Photograph 19. Barry, releasing a diamond python.


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Photograph 20. An injured possum rescued at a local building site.

On Tuesday 23rd November, I spent a second day with Barry to obtain more hands on experience of

what the organisation does as well as getting more chances to see native Australian wildlife up close

and in the wild.

Barry had previously collected the tortoise (from yesterday) before he collected me as it was close to

his house and then we went on to attend a call from some gardening contractors wanting assistance

with what they thought was a raptor (bird of prey) which turned out to be a common koel (which is

a type of cuckoo). Barry was able to create a perch for the bird and explained to the men that had

found the bird what it was and that it would be taken to one of their volunteers to be cared for and

rehabilitated. They then made a donation to WIRES and thanked Barry for coming out to see them.


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Photograph 21. Common koel juvenile found injured in a north Sydney suburb by gardening

contractors.

We then delivered the koel to one of the local volunteers for rehabilitation. The owners of the house

kindly showed me round his collection of rehabilitated Australian birds including the distinctive

Australian galahs and the unique tawny frog mouth. WIRES operate an approval and training

system for the network of volunteers to provide a robust service and ensure that best practice is

disseminated for their rehabilitation service for wildlife.

The volunteers give up a large amount of time and personal skills to care for the diverse and

amazing wildlife that Australia has and I was humbled to see the passion and dedication of the

volunteers.


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Photograph 22. Australian galah, a type of parrot in a rehabilitation aviary.

Photograph 23. The tawny frogmouth – a species of nightjar in a rehabilitation aviary


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A visit back to the WIRES office and I was able to talk to Leanne more about the legislation and how

WIRES had very good working relationships with RSPCA, National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS)

and the police.

Photograph 24. Leanne Ayres, Barry Alexander and myself at the WIRES head office, Forestville,

North Sydney.

In the afternoon, we visited a member of the public’s house who was extremely frightened as she

had a blue-tongued lizard living in her house. It was necessary to move most of her furniture to

allow Barry to skilfully capture it. It was definitely the biggest lizard I have seen! We then released it

outside the apartments near where it was captured. The day ended back in Sydney city collecting a

young Australian magpie chick that had somehow ended up in a fitness establishment and the

owner was extremely scared and grateful of Barry coming to collect it.


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Photograph 25. Barry with the blue-tongued lizard captured under the television unit in a house.

The work with WIRES was brilliant to see such a vast network of people set up to look after native

Australian wildlife was fantastic and everyone working in partnership. Collectively with co-

ordination at a central location (call-centre) so much could be accomplished. My discussions with

Leanne enquired whether a police liaison officer existed which she wasn’t aware of any and she

explained that the RSPCA were responsible for animal welfare and/or a breach in the legislation.

WIRES collaborate with the RSPCA in that they would re-home animals and assist the RSPCA if

required in respect of native wildlife. RSPCA would also investigate reports from WIRES on animal


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cruelty. The role of WIRES is not investigative but to offer a service to the public in protection and

rehabilitation of native wildlife.

In my opinion this is an extremely important organisation and it gave me great satisfaction to see

the people carrying out the work are clearly dedicated. A worthwhile experience whilst working

with local people and seeing how local problems are dealt with and native wildlife being saved. I do

believe this is a type of organisation with such a large network of people that could be developed in

Northern Ireland.

Office of Environment and Heritage NSW - Department of Environment and

Climate Change

After spending some more time in Sydney, I stayed my last night in an area called Coogee Beach and

I left the big city to travel southbound for a meeting on Wednesday 24th November with the

Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC), of the Office of Environment and Heritage

(OEH) which is responsible for state-wide legislation in New South Wales. There are six states in

Australia; namely Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and

Tasmania. All of these states have an equivalent departmental structure.

The Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) is responsible for a suite of nature conservation

legislation in New South Wales and also the state-wide national parks. According to their website

“the OEH and the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) supports the Premier, the Minister for the

Environment and the Minister for Heritage in performing their executive and statutory functions.

OEH develops and leads policy, reform and education in sustainability, biodiversity and native

vegetation, coastal protection and Aboriginal cultural heritage. OEH also manages 7 million hectares

of national parks and reserves, which is almost nine per cent of NSW. The Heritage Branch within

OEH works with communities to identify important places and objects and provides guidance in

looking after heritage items. The EPA is responsible for environmental regulation, particularly the


34

regulation of air emissions, contaminated sites, dangerous goods and hazardous materials, noise,

pesticides, forestry activities, waste and water quality.”

The organisation is sub-divided into eight functional groups (Photograph 24) and I had arranged to

meet Ron Haering who is the manager of the wildlife licensing and management team based in

Hurstville, a suburb in south Sydney, and he kindly took the time to discuss wildlife crime and

legislation with me. Ron also introduced me to two of his team, Brendan and Linda, all of whom

were very helpful.

Photograph 26. Structure of the Office of Environment and Heritage NSW

The role of wildlife licensing and management team is akin to that of the Northern Ireland

Environment Agency and are responsible for regulation including:

keeping native animals as pets


35

import licences

export licences

scientific licences

using pesticides for the management of birds

rehabilitation of sick and injured fauna

The unit are therefore responsible for licencing and compliance in New South Wales and on

occasions are required to attend court for various investigations. It was clear that the structure for

dealing with wildlife crime differs from that in Northern Ireland. There is state government which

operates locally and a federal government based in Canberra responsible for over-arching national

legislation. The following day I had a meeting arranged with federal principal investigator in

Canberra.

Ron explained the legislation that protects wildlife in New South Wales is called the National Parks

and Wildlife Act, 1974 with regulations that have been updated in 2009. The Department of

Environment and Climate Change implement the legislation and hold the powers to investigate a

possible or alleged breach in the legislation. Other legislation that protects fauna in NSW is the

Non-Indigenous Act and the Exhibitors Act and therefore similar to Northern Ireland a protected

species can fall under one or more pieces of legislation.

Ron and the team explained some of the fines people receive may equate to $11,000 for a threatened

species issue, up to $3,300 for protected fauna. One example was provided where a company were

fined $110,000 when they bull-dozed 20 hectares of land that was protected.

I was informed that the greatest penalty was approximately $5,000 for a flora offences and a person

convicted of egg theft received community service, $2,000 fine and lost their wildlife licence. At this

level of fine I would have thought it would have deterred people from breaching the legislation


36

however this didn’t appear to be the case as reports were still coming into the department.

The team explained other issues in respect of protected species that can also be classed as a pest

species such as the flying fox. Legislation exists to control them for crop protection but they are also

classified as protected and in parts of the country are endangered. During the time I spent in

Australia there were proposals which had been sought in the form of a Bill through government to

pass further legislation to shoot flying foxes as it is a pest species. However the RSPCA are objecting

to this proposal as they are also endangered – this appears to also be the case for some invasive

species but also locally common native “pest” species including black swans, cockatoos and galahs.

I asked how wildlife crime was investigated in NSW e.g. egg theft, illegal shooting poaching etc. It

seems local government rangers have powers to investigate and to report wildlife crime, police also

have powers under the legislation, however, in most cases if police receive a report they forward it

to the Department of Environment.

Ron also has a role with issues that fall under international trade and therefore he works extremely

close to the federal government to follow up any allegations of offences made under this part of the

legislation. They also carry out strategic national operations to prevent and detect crimes.

This department reminded me very much of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency in Northern

Ireland which is there to protect and conserve the local biodiversity as well as deal with licencing

issues. Within NIEA they also have a wildlife team comprising of three people and as I met with the

DOE in Australia I couldn’t help but see some similarities here.


37

Photograph 27. Meeting with the wildlife licensing and management team of the Office of

Environment and Heritage NSW.

I then travelled 270km south to the capital city of Canberra ahead of a meeting with Luke Bond

from the federal government on Thursday 25th November. I slowly realised the magnitude of

Australia as I drove the three and a half hours and barely covered a small section of the Australian

south-east. As I drove the landscapes changed considerably to beautiful undulating farmland and

grassland and I began to look for more wildlife – and in particular I still hadn’t managed to see a

kangaroo yet. En-route to Canberra I had the luck to spot a distant wedge-tailed eagle, which is the

largest species of eagle in the world, and watched a brown falcon catch a young possum at the side

of the road (Photograph 28). There were stunning flocks of wild galahs that I had seen with WIRES

and saw my first Kookaburra and unfortunately saw my first kangaroo dead at the side of the road

(Photograph 29). I hoped to have the privilege to see a live one sometime soon as all the road signs

were telling me they were nearby….


38

After a battle to find some accommodation in Canberra, I found a lovely remote, historic town called

Yass about an hour north-west of Canberra to stay the night before my meeting in the capital city

and exploring the capital territory and Burrinjuck Region.

Photograph 28. A brown falcon, similar to a kestrel in the UK

Photograph 29. A dead kangaroo, often the victims of road accidents, similar to deer casualties in NI.


39

Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and

Communities

On the 25th November I drove back into Canberra and met with Luke Bond, Principal Investigator

with the Department Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts and subsequently the Acting

Director of Environment Investigation Unit of the Department of Sustainability, Environment,

Water, Population and Communities since 14th September 2010. This department is responsible for

national (i.e. whole of Australia) legislation including:

Environment protection and conservation of biodiversity;

Air quality;

National fuel quality standards;

Land contamination;

Meteorology;

Administration of the Australian Antarctic Territory, and the Territory of Heard Island and

McDonald Islands;

Natural, built and cultural heritage;

Environmental research;

Water policy and resources;

Ionospheric prediction;

Co-ordination of sustainable communities policy;

Population policy; and

Urban environment

The department is responsible for implementing the Australian Government's policies to protect the

environment and heritage, and to promote a sustainable way of life. The department therefore

provides the basis and frameworks for state legislative policies e.g. those disseminated and managed

by Office of Environment & Heritage NSW and equivalent bodies in the other five states. Luke works


40

for the federal government and his office was only a short distance from the seat of the Australian

government at Capital Hill and kindly met with me to discuss wildlife crime and related issues in

Australia. Luke previously worked in New South Wales wildlife law enforcement responsible for

issues such as game seasons, hunting and poaching. He was the first person I met on my trip who

had previous experience and direct contact with a police officer who he would have said had a vast

amount of knowledge of wildlife issues who I hoped to meet on the way back up to Sydney.

Luke’s department are primarily directed by legislation known as the Environment Protection and

Biodiversity Conservation Act (1999) which transposes commonwealth and federal law for

Australia. The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) is the

Australian Government's central piece of environmental legislation. It provides a legal framework to

protect and manage nationally and internationally important flora, fauna, ecological communities

and heritage places defined in the Act as matters of national environmental significance.

Specifically, the EPBC Act aims to:

conserve Australian biodiversity

protect biodiversity internationally by controlling the international movement of wildlife

provide a streamlined environmental assessment and

approvals process where matters of national environmental significance are involved

protect our world and national heritage

promote ecologically sustainable development.

The EPBC Act contains an extensive regime for the conservation of biodiversity including provisions

for dealing with:

listing of nationally threatened species and ecological communities, migratory species and

marine species


41

preparing conservation advice and/or national recovery plans and wildlife conservation

plans for listed species and additional protection for listed species in Commonwealth areas

identifying key threatening processes and the preparing threat management plans for such

processes (if required)

invasive species

access to biological resources in Commonwealth areas

import and export of plants and animals (wildlife) and products derived from wildlife

protection and management of World Heritage properties, National and Commonwealth

Heritage places, RAMSAR wetlands and Commonwealth reserves

establishment of the Australian Whale Sanctuary in Australia's exclusive economic zone

A suite of national, international and strategic issues are therefore dealt with by and referred to

Luke’s department e.g. international export and import of animals under Convention on

International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) legislation. In brief, the state government can

obtain a warrant but when the case is an exotic species e.g. snakes from America it’s referred to

Luke’s department. In Northern Ireland, this same CITES legislation is part of the PSNI responsibility

via the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (COTES) legislation. Parts of the Australian

legislation therefore relate to international wildlife trade and are already built into the law.

Australia is a CITES signatory and the international recommendations of CITES are built into the

regional acts with offence provisions for import, export and/or possession and regulates

trade/possession of live and dead or artefact specimens. Therefore, possession or movement of

species that are listed on the variety of priority CITES annexes or non-natives can be offences e.g.

exotic fish. This important legislation protects endangered or threatened species globally, ensuring a

united response across the world and also is important in controlling invasive species which are a

large global threat to biodiversity.


42

What I found amazing was that although I worked on the other side of the world Luke was involved

in Operation RAMP which I co-ordinated in Northern Ireland. In brief, operation RAMP is a

worldwide operation co-ordinated by INTERPOL in 51 countries across five continents targeting

illegal trade in reptiles and amphibians. INTERPOL is the largest police organisation in the world

and aims to provide connectivity between police forces in different countries in tackling global

crime. This showed that there are strong intelligence links with Australia, the UK and globally

through INTERPOL. It was great to hear someone on the other side of the world working on the

same issues the PSNI deal with which I wouldn’t have seen first-hand without this scholarship. Luke

was clearly very experienced in the legislation and international crime and is also currently the

Vice-chair of the Wildlife Crime Working Group for INTERPOL.

Luke then described to me how they have an operational group to disseminate and co-ordinate

information sharing across Australian and includes New Zealand and Asia. This group is known as

Australasian Environmental Law Enforcement and Regulators neTwork (AELERT) and comprises a

network of environmental regulatory agencies. Its aim is to build relationships between jurisdictions

to facilitate the sharing of information and improve the regulatory compliance capacity of member

agencies. The group encourages inter-agency cooperation, sharing and integration of expertise, and

provision of a cooperative forum to raise standards in the administration of environmental law.

Given the scale of the country, issues and the variety of agencies such a network is considered

essential and membership of AELERT includes nearly 120 organisations from Australia and New

Zealand (Appendix 1). Membership provides a collective partnership and forum for national

government agencies (Australia & New Zealand); state/territory government agencies; regional/local

government and councils (Australia & New Zealand) and affiliate members (e.g. RSPCA, hunting

councils, criminology specialists, solicitors and academic research institutes).

The group examines best practice, legislation and training opportunities and requirements through


43

working groups which meet regularly. Luke is involved in the Operation Working Group and aims

to target specific issues as required and create a forum for intelligence sharing and exchange of

information. Luke explained that responsibilities can be fragmented and therefore producing overall

statistics for the country can be difficult. This would also be the case in Northern Ireland in respect

of statistics and it seems Luke’s department seems to be one department which the PSNI, NIEA,

Councils and Customs share in Northern Ireland.

Following my meeting with Luke, after a long day I headed back to Yass and spent an evening

relaxing going for a walk in the park and went out for dinner at a small restaurant in Yass. The

following day I was able to spend some more time in Canberra, visiting the Capital Hill area and the

National Museum. I was also able to visit the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust office in Acton, but

unfortunately it was closed. There was the most fantastic statue of Sir Winston Churchill and I was

humbled again to realise I had the opportunity to be in Australia as a result of the trust. What a

privilege.

Photograph 30. Me at the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust office in Canberra.


44

Photograph 31. Me and Sir Winston Churchill in Canberra.


45

The next day since I had received a few recommendations from Ron Haering and his team of places

to visit I went exploring to find some of the National Parks and Nature Reserves. I drove about two

hours west and along some winding, dirt roads to Burrinjuck Nature Reserve and Burrinjuck Dam. I

spent a brief time discussing the issues with fish poaching with the reserve wardens at Burrinjuck

Nature Reserve and lake and was able to spend the day by the lake at a very active camp site and

recreational area. Finally too, I got to see my first kangaroos (and joeys) in the wild!!

There were also Australian king parrots, noisy friarbirds, crimson rosellas, red wattle-birds, crested

pigeons, superb fairy-wrens, red-winged parrots and a satin bowerbird. The male bowerbird builds

the most beautiful “shrine” to attract a female, but it was only a young male that I saw.

Photograph 32. Kangaroo and joey (young kangaroo) in the pouch at Burrinjuck.


46

Photograph 33. Me and kangaroo at Burrinjuck.

Photograph 34. Australian king parrot feeding on berries at Burrinjuck Nature Reserve.


47

I had originally intended to travel down to Victoria for a meeting but due the extensive flooding and

rainfall in Australia, particularly in Victoria and a conversation with my contact in Victoria, I had to

cancel this meeting. It was also a 10 hour drive which I hadn’t realised - Australia is certainly a big

place! I stayed another day in Yass and began instead travelling back towards Sydney along the east

coast and to a new meeting arranged in Batemans Bay with the police officer that Luke had

recommended I meet. This began my travelling over the next four days during torrential rains that

resulted in more extensive flooding all over Australia.

I travelled four hours south-east to the coast at Batemans Bay, via a bakery, in Bugendore

recommended by the motel staff in Yass called Gunna Doo Bakery, and I can thoroughly

recommend their pies! The meeting on Monday 29th November was unfortunately cancelled due the

police officer having to attend a series of meetings and therefore I was not able to meet him.

So I continued my travel back to Sydney in time for my flight. En-route I visited the most stunning

beaches (Photograph 35) and huge expanse of wilderness at Booderee National Park in Jervis Bay

recommended by Ron and Brendan previously. Here I was able to meet briefly with some of the

national park rangers and see the proactive management of wildlife in action and their extensive

fencing of the park to contain and protect native species. The habitat management included the use

of poisons for controlling rats etc for the protection of native wildlife and birds. In this area in

particular the endangered bristlebird was being protected from fox by the use of 1080 poison via

bait stations (Photograph 36). The poison 1080 (sodium fluoracetate) is a widely used control agent

in Australia, banned in most countries, to control pest species, such as dingoes, wild dogs, rabbits

and foxes (and in New Zealand to control invasive possums, stoats and rats).

'Booderee' is an Aboriginal word from the meaning 'bay of plenty' or 'plenty of fish'. The park is

owned by the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community and has always been a significant place for native

Australians. The crystal clear waters and variety of habitats have over 200 species of bird, 30 species


48

of mammal and 180 species of fish. I could not believe the size of the national park which was

63km2 which is a huge area, in comparison to our nature reserves in Northern Ireland and in fact

we do not yet have any national parks.

The logo of the park is the white-bellied eagle, which is related to the white-tailed eagle which has

recently been reintroduced in Ireland and whilst I did not manage to see any eagles I did see a

number of birds including sacred kingfisher, cormorants, terns, variegated fairy-wrens, whistling

kites and a very wet kookaburra and another new marsupial - the wallaby.

From Booderee, I travelled along the east coast to Wollongong for my last night prior to leaving and

was able to reflect, in the long hours of torrential rain, about the fantastic travel and people I had

met in Australia and also how much I had learned and could not wait to share with the people at

home.

Photograph 35. Pure white sand beaches in Booderee National Park, Jervis Bay. Stunning!


49

Photograph 36. Prominent poison warning signage in Booderee National Park, Jervis Bay.

Photograph 37. A very wet kookaburra just outside Booderee National Park, Jervis Bay.


50

Canada

The Canada experience was what I could only describe as unbelievable. The country and people

totally exceeded my expectations and I would have loved to stay longer. I can honestly say I will be

back and I would never have known this without this Scholarship! Thank you Winston Churchill!

The research was purposely slightly different to that in Australia as my role in Northern Ireland is

divided into wildlife and animal welfare issues. Therefore, in Australia I was primarily working

alongside the animal welfare organisations and examining national and regional wildlife crime

strategies and working with welfare organisations. Whereas in Canada my goal was to work with

wildlife legislative enforcement organisations and learn more about wildlife crime and issues that

arise and how the organisations responsible combat wildlife crime and the functional partnerships

or strategies for investigation of wildlife crime.

In Canada I chose Vancouver to be my research base. I spent the first day orientating myself and

getting to know Vancouver and trying (again) to overcome the jet-lag. I was staying in a self-

catering apartment in Downtown Vancouver which was on the 17th floor with a stunning view over

the city and the mountains in the background and on the first day there was a bald eagle that flew

right passed the balcony of my apartment – how amazing! I was also able to take a walk along

Granville Bridge and saw my first Canada goose in Canada which at home are known to be an

aggressive and invasive non-native species.

Amazingly I could see snow on the mountains immediately behind the city and it appeared there

were several contrasting landscapes and I soon realised that Canada was also such a friendly and

welcoming country. There were sea-planes flying into the city, which appeared to be an important

mode of transport and all the high rise buildings were getting their windows cleaned by men and

women on ropes attached to the tops of the buildings!


51

Photograph 38. View from my apartment in Downtown Vancouver

Photograph 39. My first Canada goose in Canada!


52

Whilst organising meetings in Canada one of my first points of contact was John Wong who is the

regional director for the Wildlife Enforcement Directorate. John kindly provided me with a brief

introduction and overview of the wildlife service and responsibilities. John stated:

“In Canada, the enforcement of wildlife crime is multi-jurisdictional - a product of our large

and diverse country. Federally, we are split up into two separate departments to oversee wildlife:

Environment Canada (Wildlife Enforcement) and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. On top of

that there are also Provincial/Territorial wildlife/environmental law enforcement services (in the

province of BC they are the BC Conservation Officer Service). In simplified terms, the federal

services deal with federal species/issues (i.e. international trade) while the territorial/provincial

services their species/issues. In practice there is overlap and that overlap differs from coast to coast

- but we all strive to work together cooperatively.”

John suggested a contact in his department (Todd Boychuk) and therefore this provided me with the

opportunity to set up my first meeting. I felt I wanted to prepare myself and therefore before I

arrived in Canada I had already researched some of the legislation so when I attended meetings I

wasn’t completely new to it. The Canadian wildlife legislation appears to be protected by four main

parts of legislation:

Wildlife Canada Act

Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade

Act (WAPPRIITA)

Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994

Species at Risk Act

The Wildlife Canada Act is the main legislation, similar to that of the Northern Ireland law which is

Wildlife (NI) order 1985 as amended, in that it is primarily there to protect the countries native

wildlife. The Canadian legislation allows for creation, management and protection wildlife areas for


53

research, or conservation and public interpretation of wildlife.

The wildlife areas (called National Wildlife Areas) are to preserve habitats that are critical to

migratory birds and other wildlife species, particularly those that are at risk. In most areas activities

such as hiking, photography, canoeing and bird watching can be carried out without a permit

however the Wildlife Area Regulations prohibits all activities that could be harmful to species and

their habitats unless an activity permit is issued.

After reviewing the legislation, Section 13 in the legislation highlights the offences and punishments

for contravention of act or regulations. Examples of this are if a corporation is found guilty of an

offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding $100,000 and in the case of an individual, to a monetary

fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both. If a

person is found guilty of an indictable offence and is liable in the case of corporation, to a fine not

exceeding $250,000 and in the case of an individual to a fine not exceeding $100,000 or to

imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or both.

When there is a subsequent offence and the person is convicted of an offence under this act a

second or subsequent time, the amount of the fine may be doubled. I believe this magnitude of fines

is definitely a good idea, and fines themselves (hopefully) act as a deterrent and the UK could

certainly learn from this.

The Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act

(WAPPRIITA) which applies to a number of animal and plant species and includes:

Species on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and

Flora (CITES);

Foreign species whose capture, possession, and export are prohibited or regulated by laws in


54

their country of origin;

Canadian species whose capture, possession, and transportation are regulated by provincial

or territorial laws;

Species whose introduction into Canadian ecosystems which could endanger Canadian

species i.e. invasive species.

The WAPPRIITA forbids the import, export and interprovincial transportation of listed species,

unless the specimens are accompanied by the appropriate documents (licences, permits). In all cases,

the Act applies to the plant or animal, alive or dead, as well as to its parts and any derived products.

The CITES legislation is also applicable to Northern Ireland as over 150 countries have signed the

Convention however unlike WAPPRITTA in Canada in NI it is enforced by police under the Control

of Trade and Endangered Species (COTES) and any animals listed under CITES transported into or

outside the country is enforced and investigated by Customs in Northern Ireland.

The Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994 is federal legislation which conserves the migratory bird

populations by regulating harmful human activities that could be detrimental to the birds. Permits

must be sought for all activities affecting migratory birds, with some exceptions. Regulatory

requirements for notifiable activities such as bird hunting, aviculture, sale, gift of birds, areas of

scientific research etc. are covered in the Regulations. This Act and its complementary Regulations

ensure the conservation of migratory bird populations by regulating potentially harmful human

activities. A permit must be issued for all activities affecting migratory birds, with some exceptions

detailed in the Regulations. In the Migratory Birds Regulations, there are regulatory requirements

regarding Migratory Bird Hunting, as well as other activities related to migratory birds, including:

sale, gift or purchase

shipment


55

aviculture

taxidermy

activities involving birds causing damage or danger (e.g., agriculture)

activities involving overabundant species

activities at airports

activities for scientific research purposes

collection, possession, sale or trade of eiderdown

import of migratory bird species that are not indigenous to Canada

The Migratory Bird Sanctuary Regulations grant sanctuary status to areas that provide habitat that is

important to migratory birds. These sanctuaries help protect the birds from hunting and all other

disturbances while they are in breeding and other staging areas. The following aspects of hunting

are regulated by the Migratory Birds Regulations:

required permit;

possession limits;

hunting methods and equipment (weapon, type of shot, etc.);

retrieving birds that have been killed;

times during which hunting is permitted.

In addition, regulations regarding migratory bird hunting identify hunting areas, seasons, permitted

species and the daily bag limit per species and per region. These regulations are revised and

modified each year. The Regulations ban all activities that are harmful to migratory birds, their eggs

or their nests. However, some activities, such as hunting, may be practiced with the appropriate

permit.

The Species at Risk Act (SARA) is to prevent species at risk from disappearing and to recover species


56

that are extirpated, endangered or threatened due to human activity. Species of special concern also

must be monitored to prevent them being endangered or threatened. SARA also provides for the

issuing of permits or the conclusion of agreements for certain scientific or educational activities and

for the implementation of special emergency measures

Environmental Enforcement is further protected under the following legislation although these have

less significance to wildlife crime:

Environmental Enforcement Act

Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999

Pollution Prevention Provisions of the Fisheries Act

Non-Toxic Shot (effective 1st September, 1999) the use of lead shot was banned in Canada

for migratory game bird hunting except when hunting woodcock

Environment Canada – Canadian Wildlife Service

On Thursday 19th April 2012, I met with Todd Boychuk who works for the Canadian Wildlife

Service (CWS) part of Environment Canada. In brief, Environment Canada’s main function is to

protect the environment, conserving the country’s natural heritage and to keep the Canadians

informed and safe by providing meteorological information. Environment Canada’s mandate is to:

Preserve and enhance the quality of Canada’s natural environment, including water, air,

soil, flora and fauna

Conserve Canada’s renewable resources

Conserve and protect Canada’s water resources

Forecast daily weather conditions and warnings, and provide detailed meteorological

information to all of Canada

Enforce rules relating to boundary waters


57

Coordinate environmental policies and programmes for the federal government”.

It seems the Environment Canada team that I met is similar to that of the work of the Northern

Ireland Environment Agency and is primarily involved in research and making statutory decisions.

There are approximately 6800 employees from a broad range of fields who work in over 100

communities in Canada. The diverse expertise of the employees strengthens their ability to deal with

increasingly complex and changing environment issues from laboratories and weather stations to

national wildlife areas and field officers. Canada has Provincial and Territorial areas defined as

follows:

Alberta

British Columbia

Manitoba

New Brunswick

Newfoundland & Labrador

North West Territories

Nova Scotia

Nunavut

Ontario

Prince Edward Island

Quebec

Saskatchewan

Yukon

The area I was visiting was British Columbia which is located on the west coast and shares a

boundary with the USA (Washington State). The Environment Canada staff use the following map to

help identify each area (Photograph 40).


58

Photograph 40. The geographical distribution of the Environment Canada enforcement agencies.

Todd Boychuk works in the wildlife enforcement division. Todd is the operations manager in

Southern District and is based at Burrard Street near the harbour in the centre of Vancouver. Todd

explained that he has (at present) got four staff however staffing resources are often constrained

due to the availability funding. This is an area we can all empathise with as it seems a similar issue

throughout the world!

Todd introduced me to Ross Dolan who is the manager in charge of intelligence and who also works

for the wildlife enforcement branch. I was able to ask both Todd and Ross a number of questions all

of which they answered with vast knowledge. Questions included my own queries about the initial

research I had carried out in respect of the legislation and it was great to hear I had located and

been researching all the correct legislation! They were also able to elaborate on the information I

had gained from and to understand first hand examples of species at risk which include the

Vancouver Island marmot (only approximately 100 breeding pairs), woodland caribou, swift fox


59

and killer whale which are included in the Species at Risk Act in Canada.

It seemed although both Todd and Ross had vast powers to search seize and investigate they were

primarily involved in enforcing the WAPPRITTA legislation at a federal level. I can honestly say that

their office is proof of their many successful interventions of wildlife crime including crocodile and

alligator heads, snakes, elephant ivory (intricately carved and uncarved pieces), shark jaws, many

stuffed birds such as a shoveler, grouse, loon and emperor goose just to name a few (Photographs

41, 42 and 43).

Photograph 41. Me with an elephant tusk and narwhal tusk to my right with the wildlife

enforcement division of Environment Canada.


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Photograph 42. An alligator head and ivory chess-board seized by the Environment Canada team

Photograph 43. Ivory, shark jaws and grouse seized by the Environment Canada team


61

On asking if there were any good points in the legislation, both Todd and Ross agreed the Sections 6

(1, 2, and 3) in respect of illegal importation and exportation of animals are sections in the

legislation they used regularly and felt were most useful. They routinely work in partnership with

other statutory organisations and they have very good working relationships with the USA (US Fish

& Wildlife Service) and on occasions officers travel to the USA to carry out covert operations. This is

an area where my own role could benefit with cross-border initiatives with the Republic of Ireland.

Environment Canada also have a good working relationship with the Royal Canadian Mounted

Police (RCMP) it was clear that police do have powers to implement the legislation in particular they

can offer a first responder role and then, where necessary, the investigation is passed to the correct

body to carry forward. Typically this would then involve the team at Environment Canada.

I was interested to find out the main crimes that Environment Canada wildlife team responded to. It

seemed there was a huge demand for Asian medicines and black bears are regularly poached in

Canada for their gall bladders which are used in such medicines. Despite protection of these species,

they are often poached and parts are smuggled to Asia and also used locally by these communities. A

second issue that continues to reappear is smuggling of rhino horn and ivory and the Vancouver

Asian Community appear to illegally import tiger penis and hoodia (a plant) which are all CITES

listed.

I was delighted to find out that the wildlife team have links for intelligence gathering with Interpol

and the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) based in the UK which means that Canada, Australia

and Northern Ireland are linked worldwide with respect to wildlife crime. Ross explained that he

deals mainly with strategic issues in identifying where main crimes are taking place and deploys

resources based on this information and therefore counter-acting crime proactively. This is similar

to that in Northern Ireland, where regional crime and issues, e.g. ‘hot-spots’ or key issues are

targeted specifically where necessary.


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The division explained there is an excellent inter-governmental working partnership called the

North American Enforcement Group which includes representatives from Canada, Mexico and

America. However, unlike Northern Ireland there are no meetings with various government and

non-government organisations whereas in Northern Ireland there is the group called the

Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime (PAW) which is extremely beneficial to gathering

intelligence and reporting crime and raising the profile of wildlife crimes.

The meeting was interesting and very informative and the conclusion from the meeting is that the

Environment Canada is similar to that of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency in Northern

Ireland in respect of research, protection and designation of sites and also the PSNI in respect of

investigation and enforcement. WAPPRITTA is definitely at the forefront of their work and I found

the officers to be dedicated to their work and clearly enjoy it.

Strategic intelligence gathering is a clear priority for Environment Canada and helps decide on what

is targeted and deployment of resources e.g. issues in relation to Chinese medicines or illegal

poaching of protected species. Environment Canada provided contact details for The Wildlife Trade

Monitoring Network (TRAFFIC) operated by WWF and IUCN and another contact that was

recommended in the US Fish and Wildlife Service in USA. I emailed both the WWF intelligence

analyst from the Virginia CIA and USWFS headquarters to obtain their thoughts on wildlife crime

and the main areas and queries on cross-border initiatives. However I never received a response.

British Columbia Conservation Officer Service (North Vancouver)

On Friday 20th April 2012 I spent with the British Columbia Conservation Officers and in advance

of my meeting I prepared by carrying out some research in the internet. In brief, the Conservation

Officer Service www.env.gov.bc.ca/cos/ is a public safety provider focussed on natural resource law

enforcement and human wildlife conflicts prevention and response. Their vision is to be “a

progressive and respected leader in environmental compliance and enforcement, shared

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/cos/


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stewardship and public safety”. My research further revealed that British Columbia is home to more

than 1138 species of vertebrates, including 488 bird species, 142 mammal species, 18 reptile

species, 22 amphibian species, 83 freshwater fish species and 368 saltwater fish species. There are

152 wildlife species and sub-species which are considered candidates for endangered, threatened,

or vulnerable status. Three of these are legally designated (by the provincial government) as

endangered in B.C. the burrowing owl, the American white pelican and the Vancouver Island

marmot. The sea otter is also designated as threatened, whilst other species are under consideration

for listing.

Management of wildlife in Canada is shared by the federal, provincial, and territorial governments.

Federal responsibility includes protection and management of migratory birds as well as nationally

significant wildlife habitat, and responsibilities for endangered species, control of international

trade in endangered species, research on wildlife issues of national importance, and international

wildlife treaties and issues. For the most part, provincial and territorial wildlife agencies are

responsible for all other wildlife matters. These include conservation and management of wildlife

populations and habitat within their borders, issuing licenses and permits for fishing, game hunting,

and trapping, guidelines for safe angling and trapping and outfitting policies.

The Ecosystems Branch is responsible for biodiversity science, standards and policy for the Ministry,

and is responsible for the preparation of a biodiversity strategy for British Columbia. Important

aspects of this work include the development of more specific strategies on living rivers and species

at risk. The Branch develops legislation, regulations, standards and guidelines to protect natural

diversity. It also manages the acquisition and application of science-based information and

knowledge for aquatic and terrestrial habitats and species. The Branch establishes protocols and

performance measures for monitoring and reporting on the state of provincial biodiversity and the

effectiveness of activities being used to sustain it.


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The conservation officer service is based approximately a half an hour drive outside Vancouver.

The Ministry of Environment have over 100 staff dedicated to wildlife crime issues (and many other

environment issues) throughout Canada and when you consider the scale of Canada I would

imagine more officers are required.

My meeting was with Chris Doyle who is the Inspector in the South Coast Region and Simon Gravel

who is a Conservation Officer. On arriving at their office I was somewhat in awe of their

surroundings, an area where I would expect them to see wildlife on a daily basis I imagined a black

bear would walk past their windows regularly (Photograph 44).

Photograph 44. British Columbia Conservation Officer Service offices in North Vancouver.

The meeting with Chris and Simon was very informative they explained that the conservation

officer’s mandate isn’t only wildlife but it also includes pollution, habitat destruction, public safety

and litter. It seems there are both federal and regional levels of government for conservation and


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wildlife crime investigation and additional support from the staff responsible from Department of

Fisheries and Oceans and although all organisations e.g. conservation officers and wildlife

enforcement division at Environment Canada have their own remit they work together very closely.

Although the mandate of the British Columbia Conservation officers Service (BCCOS) is for

terrestrial animals in the province of B.C including small animals, non-migratory birds, licenses for

fishing etc. they also have powers to investigate other areas outside their remit as they are classed as

special constables.

There is considerable crossover with Environment Canada generally for public safety issues and

licensing, however transport across international borders e.g. bear parts to Asia is generally

investigated by Todd’s group at the CWS/Environment Canada and the conservation officers.

Working partnerships are vital for all the organisations and there appears to be excellent relations

for with respect to planning or wildlife and where resources can be pooled together to tackle

wildlife crime.

One idea which I thought was excellent is that there is one telephone number for the public to call

called “Report all Poachers and Polluters (RAPP)” www.env.gov.bc.ca/cos/rapp/form.htm. The RAPP

line means if a member of the public would like to report a crime for poachers or polluters then

they ring the number which is based in Victoria and manned 24 hours a day seven days a week and

run by the solicitor general ministry on behalf of the Ministry of Environment. The person

answering provides a centralised point of contact and is strategically aware of which organisation

needs to be consulted e.g. if the issue is a matter for the conservation officer service they are

informed and if the matter is for Environment Canada then they are informed. I was informed it is a

wildlife crime line but it does receive many calls of issues that are not necessarily crimes. Northern

Ireland has similar issues and there doesn’t appear to be any way to counteract or stop it both in

Canada or NI except for promotion to minimise incorrect use of the number.

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/cos/rapp/form.htm


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Photograph 45. Logo and phone number of the Report All Poachers and Polluters (RAPP) hotline.

The conservation officer service was able to provide me with some recent statistics to give me an

idea of what is reported to them, which included both reports for human/wildlife conflicts and

wildlife crimes:

Month Human – Wildlife Conflicts Wildlife Crimes

April 2011 949 381

May 2011 2280 443

June 2011 3141 365

July 2011 3627 353

August 2011 3696 417

September 2011 4167 496

October 2011 3699 735

November 2011 1887 491

December 2011 1078 328

January 2012 830 253

February 2012 718 267

March 2012 707 297

Total 26779 4826

At the meeting we discussed the role of the RCMP and unlike Northern Ireland as there is a huge


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issue with public safety and native wildlife e.g. bears eating rubbish in towns and attacking humans

then there is a very close link with the RCMP. BCCOS were able to provide me with some contact

details for a localised specialist with the RCMP and I arranged to meet him later in the week.

I asked what the conservation officers felt was the main issues and public safety issues were at the

forefront as well as poaching illegal bear parts. It appears that not unlike Environment Canada that

there is a continuing growing Asian population in Canada and bear soup is popular with

consequential large demand for this and parts for traditional medicinal purposes. The poaching of

sturgeon (fish) for caviar was another recurrent issue locally.

Education work is important to the conservation officer service and there is a close working

relationship with the B.C. Wildlife Federation which represent the hunting community who have a

rewards programme for people reporting wildlife crimes. Further to this there are initiative called

“Bear Smart” www.bearsmart.com and “Bear Aware” www.bearaware.bc.ca which are national and

provincial initiatives and to advise people to not leave any food and to ensure BBQ’s are cleaned

properly etc to ensure wildlife is not attracted into gardens or towns.

These initiatives are therefore to minimise the occurrence of human-wildlife conflicts which

requires considerable resources from the BCCOS since they are routinely involved in animal capture

and translocation but occasionally they are required to humanely destroy problem animals. Human

deaths are on occasions caused by bears or cougars in particular. The BCCOS informed me that this

is one of their key roles, in public protection and minimising wildlife-human interactions. This often

necessitates specific and specialised capture techniques and the officers routinely use live-capture

traps, tranquilizers to re-locate animals away from human habitation. I was able to see for myself

some the equipment that was utilised to capture bears and Simon explained some of the processes

involved and the welfare issues associated with capturing live animals.

http://www.bearsmart.com/

http://www.bearaware.bc.ca/


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Photograph 46. Warning signage on a live-capture bear trap used by the BCCOS.

Photograph 47. Me standing beside one of the mobile BCCOS live-capture bear traps.


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The Conservation Officers have a manual to which they can refer called the “Officers Field Offence

Guide”. This provides a quick reference guide to offences, what section the offence falls under in the

legislation and the appropriate action(s) and/or fines.

Photograph 48. British Columbia Conservation Officer Service Field Office Guide.

Whilst there numerous offences I have provided a few examples below to indicate the scale of

offences and fines:

Wildlife Act

Offence Section Action

Destroy Muskrat/beaver house/dam 9 (1) $345

Hunt without a licence 11 (1) (a) $230

Person under 19 hunts without supervision 11 (5) £230

Trap without licence 11 (8) $230

Unlawful import of live wildlife 21 (1) (a) $575

Unlawful export of wildlife 21 (1) (b) $375


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Wildlife general Regulation B.C. 340/82 failure to comply with condition of:

Offence description Section Action

Hunting licence 16.01 (a) $115

Species licence 16.01 (b) $115

The field offence guide is a great tool and on the spot fines are certainly an area the NI legislators

may find useful in the future as not only are on the spot fines a great deterrent but it also saves court

time and money.

Later that day I was able to explore the top of Mt Seymour where there was six feet of deep snow

and then down to the coastal 25°C at Horseshoe Bay about half an hour north of Vancouver.

Photograph 49. Me and my hire car at Mt Seymour in the snow, in the middle of summer!


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This latter location is where the ferry departs to Vancouver Island and I was lucky enough to spot

some bird species with which I was very familiar in my old job at WWT namely goosander and

bufflehead; which was amazing to see them in the wild in Canada.

Over the next few days I was able to explore Vancouver and visited the Aquarium and the beautiful

Stanley Park. These places were both fantastic and I managed to find a huge heronry, chipmunks

and (black) North American squirrels in Stanley Park which had interpretative signage and

traditional totems poles informing people of the local wildlife and culture.

Photograph 50. A female goosander in Horseshoe Bay, British Columbia


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Photograph 51. A female bufflehead in Horseshoe Bay, British Columbia

Photograph 52. Traditional Indian totem poles in Stanley Park


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I also found a purse in Vancouver when I was out getting some shopping and found it belonged to

an address a few miles from my apartment to which to return it and met John and Lorna Andrews,

the parents of the Erin who had lost her purse. John had previously worked in Northern Ireland, and

they kindly took the time to show me around Vancouver, The Ironworkers Bridge, Cypress

Mountain (part of the area which hosted the 2010 winter Olympics), Lions Gate Bridge, Kitsilano

Park and Granville Markets.

At Kitsilano Park, John showed me the pair of bald eagles that were nesting right in the middle of the

city! I had lunch with John at The Flying Beaver (where we enjoyed a bison burger) and watched the

seaplanes coming into the Richmond Terminal near Vancouver Airport and we went for a five mile

walk along the Iona Jetty (known locally as “The Spit”) where I saw Caspian terns, pintail, American

wigeon, ruddy duck, great northern diver (or loon as they are called in Canada) and numerous bald

eagles (some only about 20 feet away).

I would never have found these places without John and Lorna and spent some time with them and

so grateful at the time they spent showing me around Canada. They were both so welcoming and

represented everything that Canada was to me with such lovely people who make you feel

instantaneously at home.

Meeting people during my travels was a very personally important part to my Winston Churchill

Scholarship in both Australia and particularly when I was visiting Canada I can genuinely say that I

made some friends throughout the study I was doing but also people whom I know I will meet

again. I was also able to ask John and Lorna about their experiences of wildlife crime issues in

Canada and they both confirmed to me that I was indeed meeting the correct people in their

experience too.


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Photograph 53. A black squirrel near Beaver Lake in Stanley Park

Photograph 54. Part of Winter Olympic ski area at Cypress Mountain


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Photograph 55. A Caspian tern flying along-side Iona Jetty, Vancouver

Photograph 56. A bald eagle flying right beside me at Iona Jetty, Vancouver


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I had arranged to meet up, and work with, the BCCOS again in Squamish, north of Vancouver, and

began to look forward to exploring some more of British Columbia. In Vancouver I was able to get

to Granville Island again, bought some souvenirs and met up with John and Lorna again for lunch.

To get to the market I travelled across the river at Granville on an “Aquabus” water-taxi which was

a great experience.

John then kindly bought me a “Bear Bell” – which he said would come in very useful since I was

heading towards Squamish and Whistler were there are lots of bears and cougars! I hadn’t managed

to see a bear yet and was excited to leave the city and get into the wilderness, following my arranged

meetings with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Photograph 57. Aquabus to Granville Market, with Granville Bridge in the background.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)

I met with Sergeant Philip Wong on the 27th April 2012 to discuss the role of the Royal Canadian


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Mounted Police (RCMP) in respect of wildlife crime and to see if there is a similar role to mine in

Northern Ireland. Once again, I wanted to get first-hand experience of working and discussing

issues with a police officer in respect of wildlife crime.

Although Sgt Wong is a response police officer, due to the number of on-going reports on wildlife

crimes and animal conflicts Sgt Wong seemed to have adopted the role of a liaison officer and

specialises in this area. The role of liaison officer has a different slant on the role to mine in NI as Sgt

Wong works closely with the external organisations with respect to public safety and particularly

bear-human attacks.

Although the police are responsible for public safety issues in Northern Ireland we would not class a

bear attack on people as a wildlife crime probably for two reasons. One, because we don’t get black

bears (!) and some of the more dangerous animals Canada has e.g. cougars and two, it is more likely

to be classed as a public safety issue.

Public safety is clearly in the forefront of all police forces however a wildlife crime in Northern

Ireland would be classed specifically as a breach in the wildlife legislation. PSNI (and in parts the

Northern Ireland Environment Agency) are the only statutory organisations under the wildlife

legislation who can investigate a breach in the legislation whereas in Canada these investigations

are carried out by BCCOS and CWS/Environment Canada with further support and assistance from

RCMP. During 2011 the North Vancouver RCMP Detachment received:

110 calls for service (i.e. calls relating to animals)

64 calls for black bears

29 calls for other wildlife (e.g. cougars, deer, racoons etc)

17 calls for non-wildlife or domesticated animals (dogs bites, etc)


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Photograph 58. Sgt Wong (RCMP) with his patrol vehicle in Vancouver.

Sgt Wong and I discussed a number of queries I had about the wildlife legislation. Whilst police can

uphold and operate under the wildlife law in Canada since there are dedicated organisations who

investigate these specific issues the cases files are usually passed to the specialist organisations

depending on the issue. Sgt Wong confirmed that there is a strong working relationship with the

other statutory organisations. I got the sense this was extremely important as the conservation

officers can’t be everywhere and therefore police often also need to control or deal with animals for

the requirement of public safety. I was interested to know whether the BCCOS field officer guide

was used by the police and although it is mainly wildlife related, Sgt Wong was able to confirm that

police had their own manual which incorporated wildlife issues.

What I found encouraging is that when there is a wildlife issue that is classed as serious organised

crime then police meet with partners such as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans or

conservation officers and decide which organisation is best placed to investigate it and the resources


79

required. There appears to be an excellent communication network with all organisations involved.

I was interested to know if there is an intelligence overlap and any information sharing agreements

in place with external organisations, and found that this was indeed on-going and under continued

development in order to increase the functionality of the information from the public,

communication with other statutory organisations and the gathering of wider intelligence.

Sgt Wong then kindly took some time to take me on a tour around the police station where I met Sgt

Cameron, Sgt Bracewell and Inspector Attfield. I also spent some time talking to Supt. Kennedy who

was clearly very aware of the great work Sgt Wong was carrying out with the external agencies. Sgt

Wong and I then travelled to North Vancouver in his police car and whilst we were out the Sgt was

approached by a member of the public who had a petty theft issue and wanted to know what police

had done about it. Sgt Wong clearly knew about this one issue (which impressed me to no end as

I’m sure there are so many issue such as this) and in his professional manner was able to calm the

member of the public down and reassure him that police were investigating and requested the

member of the public to contact the officer investigating and ask for an update. It was so great to see

Sgt Wong in action which reiterates the multi-faceted approach the police role requires in public

reassurance as well as investigation of all crimes.

It was clear that public safety was definitely at the forefront of the RCMP work in respect of wildlife

and human interactions which includes issues with skunks, racoons, coyotes, black bears and

cougars which is what I expected but it was still nice to hear this first hand from Sgt Wong. Unlike

NI, the RCMP shares the legislation with other statutory originations who investigate. However Sgt

Wong was clearly aware of the wildlife issues as he was able to mention that there was a recent

press release on a bear being dismembered on Vancouver Island (see press release under Appendix

2). This was a clear example of a wildlife crime and one I intended to follow up with the BCCOS

when I meet them next.


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After another morning in Vancouver, and visiting the famous Laughing Men in English Bay, which

John and Lorna had also previously told me about; I travelled about an hour and a half north along

the west coast from Vancouver to Squamish and settled in to a new apartment. This was located just

outside Squamish and had stunning view of the mountains and I could start to see why I might need

my “Bear Bell” that John had bought me, this was just such beautiful and expansive wilderness.

Photograph 59. Vancouver artwork “The Laughing Men”.


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Photograph 60. View from my Squamish apartment over mountains and an abandoned golf course.

I travelled around Squamish over the weekend and visited Brackendale which is the site of the

largest wintering bald eagle population and I also went to visit where the First Nations local

communities lived. I drove through the forests in Squamish and managed to spot some black-tailed

deer at the side of one of the forest tracks and watched them, or they watched me, for ages. After

orientating myself, I was keen to see some more wildlife and was advised that the local rubbish

dump was one place to go. Whilst dumping rubbish from my apartment I went to the local landfill

and saw hundreds of gulls, ravens and 30-40 eagles. I knew from BCCOS that bears often feed in

these places, but often cause trouble or come into contact with humans. Conflicts soon follow.

Unfortunately bears often have to be destroyed at these interface areas where wilderness is in close

proximity to human habitations. I began seeing some evidence of bears including road signs and

scratches and claw scrapes on the bear-proof bins. I was very thankful to John for my “Bear Bells”

which went everywhere with me!


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Photograph 61. Some black-tailed deer in the forests of Squamish

Photograph 62. Brackendale landfill site with hundreds of gulls and ravens feeding on rubbish.


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Photograph 63. Sign for bear country!

Photograph 64. Scratches and scrapes on the bear-proof bins


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British Columbia Conservation Officer Service (Squamish)

I had arranged to contact the BCCOS when I arrived in Squamish and was due to meet the officers

on 1st May 2012. Following further exploration of Whistler (north of Squamish), where the main

Olympic Village was located I got to meet with Simon Gravel again to gain hands on experience. My

day with Simon started by visiting their main office in Squamish and seeing some of the animal

parts and evidence e.g. bear skins, teeth and skeletons that had been seized by the conservation

officers.

Photograph 65. A bear skull seized by the conservation officer in the evidence room

He also showed me a metal detector that is used for gathering evidence at crime scenes and

particularly when trying to find bullets in the snow. Snow mobiles were also stored here for use in

accessing remote crime scenes during the winter and patrolling up mountains. We were then able

to get out on patrol and headed towards Whistler and Brandywine Falls National Park and I also met

some of Simon’s colleagues, Peter Busink and Kent Popjes.


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Photograph 66. A bear pelt seized by the conservation officers in their evidence room

Photograph 67. Conservation Officer Simon Gravel and his patrol vehicle.


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I was able to discuss some on-going bear poaching cases being investigated by the officers. The

officers explained that poisons were often used in wildlife crimes in Canada. This is an issue that I

only know too well in Northern Ireland and the PSNI unfortunately also collect dead animals, birds

and poisoned baits. Kent explained that a recent case had strychnine (type of poison) found in a cow

bait presumably to target scavenging bears or cougars and whilst not placed specifically to target

birds these are often first to locate carcasses e.g. vultures, ravens and eagles and get poisoned.

Simon and I then went out on patrol around the Whistler area for fish poachers and checking local

parks for any disturbance or offences. I finally got to see a real live black bear too, I had a brief

sighting of a bear on my way home from Whistler the previous day and I showed Simon where I

had seen it – and it was still in the area, but I got a great view (and almost a photograph)! Simon

beeped the horn and chased it from the road in a process called “hazing” to condition the animal to

avoid humans and move away from roads to protect them from cars or interacting with humans.

Photograph 68. A black bear near the side of the road seen whilst on patrol with Simon.


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Simon then also took me to the site of the winter Eagle Run at Brackendale where he explained the

significance and importance of the eagles to the local economy and tourism but that occasionally

conflicts arise with poisoning and individuals poaching for economic reasons. Simon explained that

on ceremonial occasions the First Nations communities utilise eagle feathers for clothing or head-

dresses. Unfortunately they are often illegally killed (see Appendix 3) and sold and since they are

protected the conservation officers have tried to reduce the number of illegal deaths by requesting

any found dead, e.g. on the road are given to the conservation officers and at the end of the year

they divide out what they have within the First Nations communities.

The day was really good and felt very pro-active. That evening I was invited to dinner with Simon,

Peter, Kent and their families and I was humbled and so grateful by the welcome I received and the

fantastic food – officially the nicest salmon I have ever eaten! Thank you all of you for making me

feel so welcome and giving so freely of your time, experience and knowledge and for allowing me to

be part of your lives for a short while.

The following day I had one last day exploring British Columbia and went further north into the

mountains towards Pemberton and similar to my travels in Australia found another stunning bakery

called the “Blackbird Bakery” where I got a lovely coffee and a freshly made croissant with

chocolate. Yum!

On the way home I spotted an osprey nest (with an osprey on it!) on top of a huge pylon and a

bobcat right beside the road and when I got back to the apartment I got a glimpse of a cougar

crossing the golf course from my balcony. What a wildlife experience and I have learnt so much

from my travels and seen so many fantastic things and met so many lovely people thanks to the

Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and this scholarship.


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Photograph 69. A bobcat seen right beside the road between Squamish and Whistler

Recommendations

From the experience in both Australia and Canada I have a number of recommendations that

Northern Ireland could consider, including:

In Canada one telephone number is used to report all poachers and polluters – the R.A.P.P.

line. This would be an excellent idea for Northern Ireland as the responsibilities of

investigating legislation is scattered between the Northern Ireland Environment Agency,

PSNI, Department of Culture Arts and Leisure, Loughs Agency, Department of Agriculture

and Rural Development and local councils. A disadvantage to this is that general reports are

also reported not just crime which is similar to NI.

Field Offences Guide – The BCCOS, RCMP and CWS/Environment Canada have guides to

refer to which is a quick and easy tool to find offences and penalties without searching the

full legislation. This is a small and compact booklet to carry out in patrol.


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Higher fines in Canada and Australia - the fact that Canada has higher fines is considered a

deterrent for wildlife crime offences. This is an area pertinent to recent changes in the

Northern Ireland welfare and wildlife legislation and recently custodial sentences (up to two

years) have been introduced (2011/2012) and the levels of fines have been increased to

level 5 (currently £5000) for animal welfare convictions or for wildlife crime convictions.

Both fines and custodial sentences can be considered together.

Subsequent offences – double fines. If a person is convicted of an offence under the Wildlife

Act. If the crime is committed for a second or subsequent time and the person is convicted of

an offence then this may result in double the fine amount in Canada. Again this acts as a

deterrent for repeat offenders.

Australia and Canada - on the spot fines. On the spot fines are used if a dog fouls in

Northern Ireland but the fact that on the on the spot fines for wildlife crime and animal

welfare are used in Canada and Australia is a recommendation for Northern Ireland this

could not only be an excellent deterrent but also a way of not using up money, resources

and time with court and Public Prosecution Service.

Community engagement such as gathering dead eagles and sharing them with the first

nations to try and eliminate crime and work in partnership. The BCCOS are clearly working

closely with the First Nations and recognising their cultural needs and are actively

promoting and gather dead eagles to try and eliminate crime. Understanding the cultural

and/or reasons for some wildlife crimes are important to all law enforcers and such

understanding and information can be utilised to try and help eliminate it.

In Australia the organisation WIRES was set up to try and protect and conserve native

wildlife. The network is set up with limited paid staff and only two vehicles on the road. The

network of volunteers to care for the animals is truly amazing. For Northern Ireland to

conserve and protect wildlife and keep any costs down for injured animals then this may be

a future idea for a charity.

The “Bear Smart” campaign is a possible good example in respect of animals and people


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conflicting; this is maybe more relevant for the local councils in Northern Ireland to

establish in respect of dog attacks or Dangerous Wild Animals legislation for NIEA.

Covert operations between America and Canada under the CWS/Environment Canada – NI

and ROI could refer to and learn from joint working relationships that Canada and USA

have created. Environment Canada staff routinely travel to the USA to work closely with

their counterparts in combating wildlife crime. I believe a way this could be created is to

have a wildlife officer in An Garda Siochana (police) in the Republic of Ireland to work in

partnership with and plan joint operations.

In both Canada and Australia there are many people working to try and combat wildlife

crime in different departments and organisations. There are both strategic and operational

units evident in all the organisations I worked with. This is similar to that in Northern

Ireland and also my role in co-ordinating and disseminating information and the legislation

to the PSNI officers and liaising with external organisations. A collective approach

integrating experience and knowledge from all organisations in partnerships appears to be

important globally and it is important to maintain involvement and communication

between all stakeholders and statutory organisations.

Both Canada and Australia had federal and state systems for dealing with wildlife crime

issues and particularly required given the overall sizes of these countries. Whilst there is no

direct comparison within Northern Ireland there exists strategic command and operational

units and clear lines of responsibility and communication are required particularly given

the range of legislation covered. In NI the government, police and customs all have

centralised command units dealing with strategic issues and therefore, as with federal and

state systems, there is a clear requirement for continued concise and agreed

communications between strategic and operational units and engagement with

stakeholders.

In Canada The B.C. Wildlife Federation pays rewards up to $2000 for information leading to

the conviction of persons who have violated laws related to the protection of fish, wildlife,


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or the environment, or damaged the property of companies or individuals who provide

access to hunters and anglers (www.env.gov.bc.ca/cos/rapp). This would certainly

encourage reporting of wildlife crime and I found this to be an excellent example of

encouragement for the public to report a crime and a positive mechanism from a

conservation organisation.

There are many aspects that I encountered during my research and travels that allowed me to reflect

on some considerable positives in NI and perhaps could be transferred mutually or are also found to

be utilised in Canada and Australia. In particular:

NI has an excellent reporting database of wildlife crime. The PSNI and Northern Ireland

Environment Agency work closely with various other organisations to try and ensure all

reporting on wildlife crime is to the police who are the key law enforcement organisation.

The PSNI gathers the statistics and intelligence and this information is forwarded to the

National Wildlife Crime Unit. The NWCU can then compare these statistics and intelligence

reports with other areas in the UK and help identify regional and national priorities.

Northern Ireland has developed (in a very short space of time) a Partnership for Action

against Wildlife Crime (PAW). The purpose of the PAW group cannot be understated as this

entails over 15 separate organisations in Northern Ireland working together to promote the

reporting of crimes and upholding the law and diverse opinions and experience are brought

to the group within a common goal. This is an excellent collaboration and working

partnership with both statutory and non-statutory agencies. Similar mechanisms existed in

Australia (AELERT) and North American Enforcement Group to share knowledge and work

strategically to combat crime. Collectively organisations can accomplish much more than

when operating in isolation.

Every police officer (approximately 7000 officers) can respond to and investigate a wildlife

crime in Northern Ireland with the specialist knowledge of the wildlife officer and the

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/cos/rapp


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specialist assistance of the groups involved in PAW where required. This is an advantage as

an investigating officer (IO) is identified immediately at the time of reporting.

The PSNI have information sharing agreements with external agencies and therefore

established a good working partnership.

I have found the links to NWCU in all countries I visited which is certainly a positive

especially if I use the example Operation RAMP. It was great to see a globally co-ordinated

approach.

Since the completion of my scholarship I have had many opportunities to promote the Trust and to

share my life-changing experiences from my travels. In particular in February 2011 the NI

legislation on Welfare of Animals was under review and I was able to provide information on the

spot fines to local government as a recommendation. Furthermore I have prepared an article in the

PSNI internal magazine which was published in February 2011 following my trip to Australia and

distributed information to the PAW group at every subsequent meeting. Local media were most

interested in my study and my press release (August 2012) was published locally in the

Newtownards Chronicle and nationally in the Belfast Telegraph.


93

Comparison Table

Item Northern Ireland Australia Canada

Legislation The Wildlife (NI) Order

1985 as amended

The Welfare of Animals Act

(NI) 1972 (as amended to

2011)

Control of Trade in

Endangered Species

(COTES)

Fisheries Act (NI) 1966

Game Laws

EU Habitats Directive

Lead Shot Over Wetlands

Prevention of Cruelty to

Animals Act, 1979 as

amended by the Animal

Welfare Legislation

Amendment Act 2009.

Wildlife law includes

National Parks and Wildlife

Act, 1974 with Regulations

for 2009

Acts and Regulations

Wildlife Enforcement:

Migratory Birds Convention

Act, 1994

Canada Wildlife Act

The Wild Animal and Plant

Protection and Regulation of

International and

Interprovincial Trade Act

(WAPPRIITA)

Species at Risk Act

Responsibilities of Police Police have powers for all

the legislation above. In the

case of the wildlife

legislation mainly police

investigate a breach in the

legislation.

Police have powers for all

the legislation above

Police do have powers to

investigate a breach in all

legislation however in

respect of wildlife law it

seems police offer a first

responder role and pass

investigation on to

Environment Canada

Responsibilities of the non-

government and

government organisations

Council animal welfare

officers and DARD can

investigate animal welfare

and police investigate more

serious organised crime.

Non-government

organisations have no

statutory powers in

Northern Ireland.

RSPCA have 32 Inspectors

to investigate animal

cruelty.

Wildlife crime is

investigated by the NSW

Department of

Environment and Climate

change

Federally, government are

split up into two separate

departments to oversee

wildlife: Environment

Canada (Wildlife

Enforcement) and the

Department of Fisheries and

Oceans. There is also

Provincial/Territorial

wildlife/environmental law


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enforcement services (in the

province of BC they are the

BC Conservation

Officer Service). The federal

agency deal with federal

species/issues (e.g.

international trade) while

the territorial/provincial

services their regional

species/issues.

Investigation and

prosecutions procedures

Member of the public

report to local police a

possible breach in the

wildlife legislation and

police investigate with the

specialist advice of the

wildlife liaison officer.

Report is submitted to the

Public Prosecution Service

and the outcome is decided

by the Court.

Animal Welfare – can be

investigated by an animal

welfare inspector in the

council and DARD.

Depending on

circumstances more serious

organised crime issues

where these pertain to

animal welfare issues are

investigated by the PSNI

Animal Cruelty - Member

of the public reports to the

RSPCA who investigate.

More serious organised

crime involving animal

cruelty is passed to the

police e.g. approximately

200 cases in 2009.

Wildlife crime = member of

the public reports to

Department of

Environment and Climate

change

Member of public report to

RAPP one line for all who

then pass investigation onto

the correct organisation e.g.

Environment Canada or

conservation officers.

Gathering intelligence in PSNI gather information RSPCA collate statistics Higher level links to Interpol


95


relation to animals cruelty /

wildlife crime

and forward to the National

Wildlife Crime Unit –

various organisations also

gather information and

submit to police through

PAW representatives

annually

Higher level links to

Interpol – linking to the

National Wildlife Crime

Unit in the UK

- linking to the National

Wildlife Crime Unit through

Environment Canada.

Conservation officers have a

system where they can

gather statistics locally

Developing partnerships

with other organisations

e.g. government customs,

prosecuting organisations

Partnership for Action

Against Wildlife Crime in

NI with links to the UK

through PAW

Meetings are attended by

all the organisations

quarterly e.g. RSPCA,

WIRES and government

agencies.

AELERT nationwide

strategic partnership to

identify priorities and

communication between

agencies

North American

Enforcement Group –

Canada, Mexico and

America meetings.

Meetings through Bear

Aware and Bear Smart

campaigns.

Education of the public on

wildlife crime / animal

welfare

PAWNI, events, website,

intranet site, conferences,

presentations, TV

appearances, press releases

Each organisation seems to

promote separately i.e. the

RSPCA have their own PR

department.

RAPP and Bear Aware/Bear

Smart initiatives

Cross-border co-operation Within the UK PAW group

– partnerships are

developed cross-borders in

all parts of the UK

Partnerships are

development and on

occasions the RSPCA work

closely with other states

RSPCA if they have a case

that crosses the boarders.

Australia have links

through INTERPOL

Work closely with Interpol

and America

Any statistics on wildlife

crime / animal welfare

investigations

In 2011 the PSNI received

>9000 calls relating to

animals and approximately

RSPCA Inspectors

investigate more than

12,000 complaints every

The BCCOS have

Human-wildlife conflict

reports 26,779 and


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450 wildlife crime reports year. Many of these

complaints are dealt with

on the spot by educating

owners of their

responsibility. The cruelty

cases are referred to the

courts for prosecution.

wildlife crimes 4,826

RCMP reports – in 2011

110 calls for service (calls

relating to animals)

64 calls for black bears

29 calls for other wildlife

(e.g. cougars, deer, raccoons

etc.)

17 calls for non-wildlife or

domesticated animals (dog

bites, etc.)

What are the main wildlife

crime / animal welfare

issues

NWCU identified the UK

priorities as badger

persecution, bat

persecution, CITES issues,

freshwater pearl mussel,

poaching, raptor

persecution

RSPCA - most common

complaints are failure to

provide adequate food,

veterinary treatment and

adequate shelter.

Traditional Asian medicines

and illegal poaching and

export of native species e.g.

grizzly bear; black bear also

human-wildlife conflicts


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Appendices

Appendix 1

AELERT Member Agencies www.aelert.net

National Government

Australian

Australian Customs and Border Protection Service; Australian Maritime Safety Authority; Australian Pesticides

and Veterinary Medicines Authority; Clean Energy Regulator, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and

Forestry; Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency; Department of Sustainability, Environment,

Water, Population and Communities; Murray–Darling Basin Authority; National Industrial Chemicals

Notification and Assessment Scheme; National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management;

National Water Commission; Office of the Gene Technology Regulator

New Zealand

Ministry for Primary Industries; Ministry for the Environment; NZ Environmental Protection Authority

State/Territory

Australian Capital Territory; Department of Territory and Municipal Services; Environment and Sustainable

Development Directorate

New South Wales

Department of Planning and Infrastructure; Environment Protection Authority; Game Council NSW

Office of Environment and Heritage; Office of Water – Department of Primary Industries; Roads and Maritime

Services; Sydney Catchment Authority

Northern Territory

Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport

Queensland

Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry; Department of Environment and Heritage Protection;

Department of Natural Resources and Mines

http://www.aelert.net/


98

South Australia

Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources; Department of Planning, Transport and

Infrastructure; Department of Primary Industries and Regions; Environment Protection Authority

Department for Manufacturing, Innovation, Trade, Resources and Energy

Tasmania

Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment

Victoria

Department of Primary Industries; Department of Sustainability and Environment; Environment Protection

Authority; Lower Murray Water; Melbourne Water; Parks Victoria

Western Australia

Department of Agriculture and Food; Department of Environment and Conservation; Department of Mines

and Petroleum; Department of Water; Environmental Protection Authority

Regional/Local

Australian

Brisbane City Council (QLD); Bundaberg Regional Council (QLD); Gold Coast City Council (QLD); Ipswich

City Council (QLD); Sunshine Coast Regional Council (QLD); Toowoomba Regional Council (QLD); Mount Isa

City Council (QLD); Armidale Dumaresq Council (NSW); Ballina Shire Council (NSW); Bega Valley Shire

Council (NSW); Bellingen Shire Council (NSW); Byron Shire Council (NSW); Campbelltown City Council

(NSW); Cessnock City Council (NSW); City of Canada Bay (NSW); Clarence Valley Council (NSW); Coffs

Harbour City Council (NSW); Dubbo City Council (NSW); Dungog Shire Council (NSW); Fairfield City Council

(NSW); Gilgandra Shire Council (NSW); Gloucester Shire Council (NSW); Gosford City Council (NSW);

Goulburn Mulwaree Council (NSW); Great Lakes Council (NSW); Greater Taree City Council (NSW); Griffith

City Council (NSW); Hawkesbury City Council (NSW); Hunter Water (NSW); Kempsey Shire Council (NSW);

Kiama Municipal Council (NSW); Kogarah City Council (NSW); Kyogle Council (NSW); Lake Macquarie; City

Council (NSW); Lismore City Council (NSW); Lithgow City Council (NSW); Maitland City Council (NSW);


99

Muswellbrook Shire Council (NSW); Newcastle City Council (NSW); Penrith City Council (NSW); Port Stevens

Council (NSW); Queanbeyan City Council (NSW); Rockdale City Council (NSW); Shoalhaven City Council

(NSW); Singleton Council (NSW); Sutherland Shire Council (NSW); Upper Hunter Shire Council (NSW);

Wagga Wagga City Council (NSW); Western Sydney Regional Illegal Dumping Squad (NSW); Wingecarribee

Shire Council (NSW); Wollondilly Shire Council (NSW); Wyong Shire Council (NSW); Yass Valley Council

(NSW); Young Shire Council (NSW)

New Zealand

Bay of Plenty Regional Council; Environment Southland; Waikato Regional Council; Greater Wellington

Regional Council; Hawke’s Bay Regional Council; Taranaki Regional Council; Tasman District Council;

Environment Canterbury Regional Council

Affiliate Members

Australian Institute of Criminology; Transnational Environmental Crime Project, Australian National

University; Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law, University of New England; Hunter Councils

NSW Better Regulation Office; Local Government Association of Queensland; Flinders Law School, Flinders

University; Government Investigations Unit, Crown Solicitor’s Office (SA); RSPCA SA; Criminology Research

Unit, School of Sociology & Social Work, University of Tasmania


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Appendix 2

Poaching suspected after dismembered bear found in B.C.

Bobby Rupert stands in front of the dismembered bear carcass he discovered in the Somass River near Port

Alberni. April 24, 2012. (CTV); Date: Tuesday Apr. 24, 2012 4:10 PM PT

Conservation officers on Vancouver Island are investigating a suspected poaching case after the discovery of a

black bear with its head and paws removed.

Tseshaht First Nation fisherman Bobby Rupert discovered the dismembered and decomposing carcass floating

in the Somass River near Port Alberni.

"The colour of the carcass startled me at first. I thought it was a human remain," he told CTV News.

"I don't know if it's our people or somebody came and dumped it here."

The Conservation Service believes the bear was killed by poachers. "This is outside the regulations and it is

illegal activity," officer Steve Ackles said.

He said similar cases are uncommon, but not unheard of. In August, a 39-year-old B.C. man was arrested at


101

Vancouver International Airport (YVR) after border officials found three bear paws inside his luggage when

he tried to board a flight to China.

Adrian Nelson of the anti-fur group Fur-bearer Defenders said that while it's difficult to get reliable

information about the extent of the illegal trade in animal parts, there are signs it may be on the decline.

"It's an aging population that believes in these medicines, these natural things from animals -- we have shark-

fin soups and bear parts and things like that. That being said, we are still seeing a trade in this here and

overseas," he said.

Conservation officers say that while they pursue numerous poaching cases every year, securing charges can

be a slow process. Although charges were recommended in connection to the bear paws found at YVR airport,

Crown has yet to approve them.

www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120424/bc_dismembered_bear_poaching_120424/20120424

/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome"


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Appendix 3

Bald Eagle press release - First Nations want 'reconciliation' on issue of eagle-killing.

Just as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has begun hearing stories from residential school survivors,

Canada’s top native leader say it is time for governments to listen to aboriginal demands to legally kill a small

number of eagles for ceremonial purposes.

Just as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has begun hearing stories from residential school survivors,

Canada's top native leader says it is time for governments to listen to aboriginal demands to legally kill a small

number of eagles for ceremonial purposes.

"The source of conflict isn't new, but we have an opportunity in this era -- an era that I would suggest is one

of reconciliation," said Assembly of First Nations Chief Shawn Atleo.

Doug White, of the First Nations Summit, added that Section 35 of the Constitution, which provides protection

to the treaty rights of aboriginals, doesn't line up with Canadian laws that makes it illegal to kill eagles for any

purpose.

"So the difficult work that's in front of us is addressing that reality where Canadian society criminalizes our

behaviour, our most sacred teachings," White said.

Native leaders, who gathered Thursday in Vancouver at a news conference, argue first nations people should

not be penalized by modern laws for "harvesting" a few birds to follow the ancient customs of making

ceremonial items bearing eagle feathers.

Atleo, wearing a woven hat with eagle feathers dangling from the back, said the courts are clogged with

similar issues, and he thinks this would best be worked out by native leaders and government leaders sitting

down together.

"We want to participate with government looking at how we can practise our rights, including the harvesting


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of eagles if we require for our purposes, not for money to change hands," said Sto: lo Tribal Council Grand

Chief Doug Kelly. "We want to make sure we can practise our rights without fear of prosecution."

This showdown was sparked by the fallout from a B.C. government investigation into the slaughter of 50

eagles, whose carcasses were found in North Vancouver in 2005. The birds' feathers and talons were believed

to have been sold on the black market, which is said to be a multimillion-dollar underground economy.

Eleven native men were charged, but Kelly and others argue the accused were not responsible for the eagle

slaughter but were caught in a so-called sting operation by B.C. conservation officers.

In a statement Thursday, the environment ministry maintained the investigation by the Conservation Officer

Service was "appropriate and professional." It declined to provide anyone to be interviewed about the other

issues raised during the news conference.

Many of the dozens of comments posted to The Sun's web-site about this story indicate the group may not

enjoy a lot of public support, with many readers disagreeing with the suggestion that aboriginal people should

be able to kill eagles for any purpose.

The native leaders took a strong stand against the slaughter of the 50 birds and killing eagles for economic

purposes, insisting they want to protect the birds for future generations but still have access to a few for

making sacred regalia.

"In 2005 when there were 50 carcasses found in this part of the world, everyone was horrified," White said.

"That behaviour is something different than what these men are being prosecuted for."

The 11 men charged in the eagle poaching case face a total of 105 charges for unlawful possession of dead

wildlife, trafficking in dead wildlife and other related charges.

Kelly insists that many of the accused were approached by undercover conservation officers, many of them

native people, who "enticed" the accused to kill an eagle for them or to make a headdress for them for spiritual

purposes.


104

The accused agreed to help, but are not the criminals who killed the 50 eagles, Kelly said.

Francis James, one of the accused, pleaded not guilty and his trial is underway in Chilliwack. He declined to

provide specifics about the allegations against him, but said generally that he did not kill any of the original

50 birds.

"I don't think we should be victimized any more for practising what we believe in," said James, who is skilled

in making regalia out of eagle feathers.

Lek-hoosh, a member of the Sts-ailes Nation, claimed he was a target of the alleged sting but was never

charged.

Lek-hoosh claimed an undercover native conservation officer brought him a stuffed eagle and asked that the

feathers be turned in a headdress. The man later offered to pay for the regalia, but he declined, saying that

would be wrong.

Lek-hoosh also claimed the agent brought a Caucasian "girlfriend" with him, who said she had relatives with a

museum and would like to buy some native artifacts from him. Lek-hoosh said he also turned down her offer.

"I feel like it was a vicious attack on first nations people, to try to [make me] do something illegal," he said.


105

Appendix 4

Overview of itinerary

Australia

Mon 15th & Tue 16th November 2010

Travel – leave Belfast on the first flight to London Heathrow. 11am flight to Singapore and linking flight to

Sydney Australia. Arrive in Australia at 8pm on Tue 16 November 2010. In the UK the time change means it

was only 8am on Tue morning. By the time I collected car and luggage I arrived at the hotel at 11pm.

McDonalds was first!

Wed 17th November 2010

A day used to find my way around Sydney and a day to make my contacts aware that I had arrived. I was so

excited to see the Sydney harbour and Sydney harbour bridge and walk up George street (which appears to be

the main street in Sydney). I visited the Sydney Royal Botanical Gardens. Still trying to get used to the time

change as I’m awake whereas at home I’d be sleeping

Thu 18th November 2010

RSPCA – Marika Taylor - 10am meeting

Sydney Volunteer Recruitment Co-ordinator. Marika’s role is to introduce new volunteers to the RSPCA and to

sign me up as a volunteer for two days for insurance purposes. Marika then introduced me to Skye who is an

Inspector whom I worked with the rest of the day. Skye introduced me to most of the RSPCA main offices

where I’m to visit tomorrow.

Fri 19th November 2010

Another day with the RSPCA. Today began at 6.30am as it takes 2 hours to get to the RSPCA main offices. I

was to ask for Tracy who then introduced me to the Operations manager, Matthew French. Matthew clarified

a lot of questions and then I spent the rest of the time meeting people and finding out about other people’s

positions within the RSPCA main offices e.g. marketing, operations, HR etc.

Sat 20th November 2010

Free – visit Darling Harbour


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Sun 21st November 2010

Free day

Mon 22nd November 2010

WIRES – Leanne Aires – CEO

Worked alongside Barry all day

Tue 23rd November 2010

WIRES – Worked with Barry all day

Wed 24th November 2010

Ron Haering

Manager, Wildlife Licensing and Management

Protected Areas Policy and Programs Branch

Department of Environment and Climate Change

Also met with Brendan and Linda in Hurstville

Head for Canberra in afternoon

Thu 25th November 2010

Meeting with Luke Bond in Canberra

Principal Investigator, Department Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.

Fri 26th November 2010

Winston Churchill visit – the premises were closed with no indication of opening hours. Photo’s taken

Sat 27th November 2010

Free day

Sun 28th November 2010

Travel to Batemans Bay to organise accommodation in the hope to meet with Police Officer on Monday -


107

unfortunately due to the officer having an unexpected meeting this was cancelled.

Mon 29th November 2010

Free day to write up report and research

Tue 30th November 2010

Visited Coogee Bay

Wed 1st Dec 2010

Travelled back to Sydney and visited sites on the way

Thu 2nd Dec 2010

Leave early in morning


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Canada

Tue 17th April 2012

Arrive 11pm in Vancouver

Wed 18th April 2012

Confirm accommodation, car hire and email contacts

Thu 19th April 2012

Meet with Wildlife Enforcement division (Canadian Wildlife Service) in Canada, Vancouver, Burrard Street

Todd Boychuk

Ross Dolan

Owen Hargrove

Fri 20th April 2012

Meet with the British Columbian Conservation Officers Service, North Vancouver.

Chris Doyle, Inspector in Charge of operations

Simon Gravel Conservation Officer

Visit Mt Seymour National Park

Sat 21st April 2012

Work on report and research

Email TRAFFIC with reference to international trade to try and arrange meeting as recommended by Todd

Boychuk

Email US Fish & Wildlife Service to ask questions

Email RCMP to arrange meeting

Sun 22nd April 2012

Visit Stanley Park to see native wildlife

Read all the information provided by the wildlife service i.e. information on the introduction of migration

legislation, CITES species, Game Warden magazines and statistics from the US Fish & Wildlife Service.


109

Found purse and delivered back to a house and met John and Lorna Andrews who are big wildlife fans and

suggested they took me on a tour (tomorrow)

Mon 23rd April 2012

Visit to Cypress Mountain to see Vancouver from an aerial view and Kitsilano Park, back through Stanley Park

over the Lions Bridge and to Granville markets. Lunch in Flying Beaver at Richmond sea-plane terminal and

on to walk five miles at Iona Jetty to identify local birds from bald eagles, Caspian terns, pintail, American

wigeon etc

Email to Simon gravel to verify email address to RCMP as it didn’t appear to work.

Tue 24th April 2012

Work on report in morning; Arrange meeting with RCMP

Market visit

Wed 25th April 2012

Administration – report writing

Thu 26th April 2012

Meet RCMP

Philip Wong in North Vancouver. Visit North Vancouver

Also met:

Sgt J Cameron

Sgt K Bracewell (who previously spent some time working in NI)

Superintendent C Kennedy (who will soon visit NI for the police world and fire games)

Inspector D Attfield

Fri 27th April 2012

Move accommodation to Squamish and work with more conservation officers. Emailing contacts to arrange

meetings with conservation service in Squamish – visit to the First Nations area in Squamish.


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Sat 28th April 2012

Orientation – Squamish (home to the Bald Eagle which is often killed illegally for its feathers).

Sun 29th April 2012

Sightseeing around Squamish

Emailing Sgt Peter Busink to arrange meeting and working with an officer for a day.

Mon 30th April 2012

Administration work

Tue 1st May 2012

Meet with Sgt Peter Busink and Kent Popjes, Simon Gravel to work with the BCCOS for the day

Respond to call on dumping, patrol fishing area searching for illegal fishing. Fantastic evening dinner

Wed 2nd May 2012

Last of sightseeing of native wildlife

Thurs 3rd May 2012

Sadly leave Canada

wildlife crime & animal welfare...welfare and in relation to animal and wildlife crime. it is my...

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