Question reference: S6W-05716
- Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 17 January 2022
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Current status: Answered by Keith Brown on 24 January 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many instances of (a) poaching and (b) coursing were recorded in (i) the Forth Valley, (ii) Fife and (iii) Perth and Kinross, in each of the last five years.
Answer
Information on the number of offences recorded by Police Scotland of coursing (a. hunting with dogs) and poaching (b. poaching and game laws, including deer-related offences), from 2016-17 to 2020-21, is provided in the table below.
Table 1. Offences of poaching and coursing, by requested local authority, 2016-17 to 2020-21
Offence | Local Authority | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 |
a) Coursing 1 | i) Forth Valley 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
ii) Fife | 1 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 4 | |
iii) Perth & Kinross | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
b) Poaching 3 | i) Forth Valley 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
ii) Fife | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
iii) Perth & Kinross | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Note:
1. Coursing data is from the crime Hunting with Dogs.
2. Forth Valley data is composed of the constituent Local Authorities: Clackmannanshire, Falkirk, and Stirling.
3. Poaching data combines crimes recorded under Poaching and Game Laws and Deer (Scotland) Offences.
Source: Recorded Crime in Scotland National Statistics, annual statistics, Scottish Government