ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of the police in the policing of wildlife crime in Scotland in more detail. In Scotland, the focus of this chapter, there are a range of wildlife crimes that have attracted national political attention as the Minister for Environment observed during a Scottish Parliamentary debate about wildlife crime. The chapter provides some insights into these issues and there are similarities with findings from other studies, such as that carried out by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention on the poaching of large predators, such as wolves and golden eagles. At a global level, attention has tended to focus on international regulatory initiatives, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) which was introduced in 1973 and aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
