Old Colwyn (East) Residents’ Association
Minute of a talk on Wednesday 9th July 2008 by Sgt 985 Rob Taylor, North Wales Police Wildlife Officer
Sgt Taylor said that he has been a police officer for over 22 years, twelve years as a sergeant and reflected that he was the community police officer in Colwyn Bay in 1988, so he had a long connection with Colwyn Bay.
In October 2007, the police force advertised the post of Wildlife Sergeant and he applied and was successful after an interview selection board.
He is a nationally trained hostage negotiator but added that he is not Dr Doolittle and does not talk to the animals. His self effacing sense of humour was present throughout the talk and added to the enjoyment of those present.
The post is based with the Countryside Council for Wales, the statutory body for Wales, responsible for the protection of wildlife and habitat. The CCW funds half of Rob’s post and the police fund the other half. The job is split, half working for the CCW and half being a wildlife sergeant for North Wales Police.
His post covers the northern half of Wales as far south as Aberystwyth and Newtown, he is in charge of any wildlife or any environmental investigations in that area. He remarked that it is a very beautiful area. At present he outlined that he is covering 40 investigations by himself so he is very busy.
CCW have several visions which Rob described as very positive; Landscape of distinctive character; More wildlife on land and in the sea; Economic development; Respecting the environment; Greater access to the countryside.
He reflected that those visions include the sea, so he covers porpoises, dolphins, killer whales and sea turtles which have been known to frequent the coast.
He outlined that when he took on the post he had visions of there being one set of legislation covering the job but that is not the case; there is the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, Habitat Regulations; Wild Mammals Act 1996; Food and Environmental Protection Act; Natural Environment and rural Communities Act 2006. He added that he could really quadruple the list but the short list would serve to show the scope of the legislation that he has to work to.
As Traffic Sergeant the law was fairly straightforward and well known by him through usage. As Wildlife Sergeant it is very different and complicated. He had just come to terms with one set of legislation and the government has brought in another act.
With legally protected species, offences include killing, injuring, taking, disturbance and possession of protected species, damaging or destroying resting and breeding places. The animal part is about protecting our species of wildlife. Some of these include Harbour Porpoises, Butterflies, the Great Crested Newt is very rare. He related that often major civil engineering developments have to be considerably and expensively changed to take account of the habitat of such species as the Great Crested Newt.
Another interesting part of the job, in which Rob is trying to specialise, is the control of trade in dangerous species. He has visited Kew Gardens to acquire knowledge about this issue. He appreciated the possible first thoughts of people, this is North Wales, we have deer and badgers, why do we need to concern ourselves with dangerous species? He continued saying that the trade in dangerous wild animals and their parts is a multi billion pound worldwide trade. It is the biggest trade in the world after guns and drugs.
There were 15 black rhino left on a game reserve in South Africa and a gang came in for the horn and they killed five game wardens and slaughtered all the black rhinos. There are now two or three left in that area and the rest are in zoos.
Tigers are much endangered; they are used for herbal medicines. Every part of the tiger is ground down for the medicine trade. There is a massive world trade in orchids. People travel to countries like Malaysia and rip them out of the wild. Kew Gardens staff went to one area of Borneo to try and find a rare orchid and they reported that it was extinct; three weeks later a smuggler was caught at Heathrow coming through with ten of the plants which he had found in Borneo and ripped up. Those plants subsequently died.
Tortoises are endangered species and you require a special certificate to keep one, particularly Herman’s tortoise and a Radiated tortoise also known as a Radiator.
The Radiator
Rob told the meeting that he has books to identify the different species and it is very important that we impact on the problem when it appears in our area or it just magnifies on a worldwide scale.
He showed a picture of a woman wearing a shawl worth £10,000 made from a fabric called shahtoosh, woven from the wool of a Tibetan antelope called the Chiru, found above 14,000 feet. Hunters will find a herd sleeping in the dark, they shine bright lights on them for disorientation and slaughter them with semi automatic weapons. When someone is found in North Wales or London with such a shawl on it is formed as a result of the wholesale slaughter of a species in Tibet.
Persecution of birds is another area that Rob has to combat. Collection of birds’ eggs is commonplace. With falcons and choughs for instance, people steal their eggs, it is a Victorian pastime he said that has gone out of focus over the years but people still do it. A particular species is the Goshawk. The eggs are traded on the internet and it is big money, it is also very cruel.
Badgers and Deer have a specific Act of Parliament dealing with their protection, the Deer Act and the Badger Act of 1982. People poach deer locally in Kinmel woods behind Bodelwyddan Castle, the animals are sometimes seen on or near the A55.
Badger Baiting is a massive problem which happens in North Wales. People come from within and outside North Wales to carry out the baiting. They put a tracking monitor on the dog, send it down the sett and once the dog comes to a standstill, the badger will attack the dog usually ripping off its’ bottom jaw. The people will then dig the badgers up from the sett.
Sometimes they are taken in cages and put in dog fights in the Liverpool area. Money is bet on the outcome. The claws and teeth of the badger are often pulled out so that they cannot defend themselves. It can be seen that baiting is horrendously cruel.
Other times the people will dig up the badger, hit it and stun it with shovels and then set the dogs on them. These people regard this pastime as sport.
Rob stated that he deals with such matters very seriously indeed and prosecute every single time. He finds it unbelievable that a human being can be so callous. In reply to a question he outlined that it does happen in Conwy but there is a large problem in Llangollen, Caernarfon and Deeside so it is a widespread problem in North Wales. There is a lot of intelligence about possible offenders and a national operation to catch badger baiters so there are interesting times to come.
In reply to a question about the increasing numbers of badgers seen dead on the main roads and was it linked with criminals? Rob said that he had used the A55 for many years and had not noticed a difference, Rhuallt Hill and Holywell are common areas where they are seen, there are badger setts in those areas.
Poisoning of animals is commonplace, people will place a dead rabbit laced with a deadly poison as a lure for a fox or other animal. The other creature bites the rabbit and dies almost immediately.
Recently two buzzards tried to pick up a rabbit lure, one died, one got airborne and fell dead out of the sky.
Hundreds of pet dogs a year are killed by picking up such poisoned carcasses
Town foxes are very common as there is a lot of rubbish about which they feed on. Foxes are often a target for the poisoner but as described, it is dangerous and indiscriminate.
The CCW in the whole of Wales manages Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). These sites are designated because of the history, animals, flora or fauna specific to them. There are over 1,000 in Wales and include an outside toilet in Dolgellau to the whole of the Berwyn Mountain range. The Great Orme is an SSSI because of its historical and plant environment. The Marian in Llysfaen is also an SSSI.
Rob’s job in CCW is investigating crimes against the environment, such as people digging roads across areas where they should not do so, or trashing ponds. The law is complex and they are not easy to investigate.
The conservation priorities are
1 Birds of prey
2 Bats
3 Areas of Scientific interest and areas of natural beauty.
Rob then outlined a case that he had recently dealt with in January, involving destroying a bat roost and this was dealt with in Llandudno Magistrates court a week ago.
St Sannan’s Church in Llansannan was the scene of this particular incident. In July 2007, the side of the roof needed to be replaced. The Church applied to CADW and got a grant to replace the roof. Different companies were asked to tender for the job and a firm won the contract. As part of the contract they have to have an ecology report. An expert goes into the roof and looks for bats. There are 17 different bat breeds in the UK. Two different types of bats were found, a Natterer’s bat and the brown Long eared bat.
He reported to the roofing company that these two breeds of bat were there and they could not touch it as they hibernate until February / March and breed after that taking it through to August / July. That was the time scale for the job delay. The bat worker was driving past in January and saw that the work had been commenced on the roof, no licence had been obtained to move the bats and no authorisation had been given. The company had another contract and could not wait until August so decided to pull the roof off. They completely destroyed the breeding sites of the two breeds of bat.
In answer to the question as to the outcome for the bats, Rob replied that it is unknown. In January they should have been hibernating and probably died. It was his first case which involved a lot of research and learning and the application of policemanship skills learned over many years in various areas of policing.
At court the contractor was charged with two counts under the Habitat Regulations of disturbing the habitat of the two breeds of bat. He was fined £5,000 with £65 costs. Rob said that this shows how seriously the wildlife laws are taken by the courts.
Rob then continued to tell the story of the Osprey in relation to Wales. It was extinct in the UK between 1916 and 1954. It was reintroduced into Scotland and bred well. There were 200 active pairs in Scotland but none anywhere else. Two birds were introduced five years ago to Beddgelert. Rob explained that they are very special birds for a number of reasons. They mate for life, they leave the country about September. The female leaves first and then the male separately. They both fly to South Africa. They spend the time in South Africa separately and both arrive back in the UK on exactly the same day in March.
Security is arranged for the nesting place. They are the only two Ospreys in the whole of Wales. The female is tracked by satellite and arrived on 28th March and the male arrived one hour later. They solely live on fish.
There are three chicks this year and they will fly away alone to Africa at the end of the year and not return for four years. He recommended that people visit the site near Porthmadog.
The Osprey
Rob gave an indication of the levels of wildlife crimes reported to him in the last four months
March 27 incidents
April 30 incidents
May 26 incidents
June 40 incidents
July 16 incidents up to the 9th of the month.
Since taking up the post he has devised a system and has appointed 25 volunteer wildlife constables throughout the force who in addition to their normal duties assist Rob. The officers will start off an investigation and then Rob can take it over later.
The officers had to be trained and the national course at £1000 per officer was too expensive so the course was brought to them in North Wales and Rob was able to train 20 of the volunteers to national standard which is good for the North Wales response to wildlife crime. They are spread across the force area and provide a first response.
The internet is a good source of information. There are people who do off road motoring
who cause untold damage to rare species and they have to be brought to book. Rob
told of a recent case, an off-
A resident asked if Rob had an interest in nature before his present appointment. He replied that he had a general interest in nature and the environment or North Wales and its mountains. He said that he is still dedicated to his job and will give it all he can and try to make a difference. He has spent time with key workers such as an expert on fresh water pearl mussels, also a bat worker.
A resident asked if seagulls are protected. Rob replied that they are protected as a species. He has dealt with several seagull cases. There is a general licence available to persons to kill them for serious health concerns, serious damage to crops or various other reasons. Two lads are up for sentence on 14th July for kicking a seagull to death.
Councillor Squire added that with relation to the trade in wildlife from a Environmental Health perspective, there is a massive trade coming into the country from African countries.
Rob added that Bush meat is a big business and much of it carries disease. He also told of a young person who bought two snakes off the internet. The postman noticed that the parcel was moving. The parcel was opened at the post office and there were two Tupperware boxes, each containing a deadly snake.
Six King cobras were seized last week at Heathrow and they have been taken to Liverpool.
A whole elephant was found in a man’s house and garden in Nottingham. It was dead. Rob asked how you get an elephant into Britain. Someone suggested not in a suitcase.
The secretary spoke of the talk and the insight that Rob had given into the job that he does. It was fascinating to listen to the stories that Rob had related and it was reassuring to know that North Wales Police have the resources to deal with the crimes associated with wild animals and the environment which perhaps were not systematically dealt with in the past.
Rob replied that sadly some forces in England in particular still don’t do anything with wildlife crime at all. Two officers cover Wales, one north, one south. One English force has recently scrapped its wildlife officer post.
The secretary continued to say that from what Rob had said, he is obviously very proactive and works very hard and long hours. He thanked Rob for taking the time to visit the meeting and giving such an interesting talk.
There was a resounding applause for Rob and the Chair thanked him and commented that his graphics were great.
Rob replied that there will be a film on BBC2 Wales in September about his work called “Iolo investigates”. There was a further round of applause.
