National Wildlife Crime Unit
Encyclopedia
The National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) is a British national police unit that gathers intelligence on wildlife crime and provides analytical and investigative support to law enforcement agencies.
West Lothian
.
, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs
, Defra, and TRAFFIC International.
, illegal taxidermy
and auction
sales, bat
and badger
-related offences, marine species, reptile
smuggling, wild bird
netting, egg collecting, animal health
issues and dangerous wild animals.
History
It was officially launched on 18 October 2006. It is based in LivingstonLivingston
-Canada:*Livingston No. 331, Saskatchewan, a rural municipality in west-central Saskatchewan-United Kingdom:*Livingston, Scotland, town in West Lothian**Livingston **Livingston...
West Lothian
West Lothian
West Lothian is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, North Lanarkshire, the Scottish Borders and South Lanarkshire....
.
Structure
The NWCU is made up of 15 staff members, including analysts, intelligence officers and investigative support officers from the policePolice
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs is a non-ministerial department of the UK Government responsible for the collection of taxes and the payment of some forms of state support....
, Defra, and TRAFFIC International.
Functions
The NWCU deals with the trade in endangered speciesEndangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
, illegal taxidermy
Taxidermy
Taxidermy is the act of mounting or reproducing dead animals for display or for other sources of study. Taxidermy can be done on all vertebrate species of animals, including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians...
and auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
sales, bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
and badger
Badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are nine species of badger, in three subfamilies : Melinae , Mellivorinae , and Taxideinae...
-related offences, marine species, reptile
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
smuggling, wild bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
netting, egg collecting, animal health
Animal Health
Animal Health is the UK government's executive agency primarily responsible for ensuring that farmed animals in Great Britain are healthy, disease-free and well looked after....
issues and dangerous wild animals.
See also
- Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom and was implemented to comply with the Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds...
- Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to AnimalsRoyal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to AnimalsThe Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a charity in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. In 2009 the RSPCA investigated 141,280 cruelty complaints and collected and rescued 135,293 animals...
- Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to AnimalsScottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to AnimalsThe Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a charity to promote animal welfare in Scotland. It was founded in Edinburgh in 1839 and one of its first aims was to improve the welfare of cart-horses...