Alan Stewart
Retired Tayside Police and National Wildlife Crime Unit officer. Author of 10 books on wildlife, wildlife crime and of http://wildlifedetective.wordpress.com
- Confirmation that hare coursers are some of the worst of criminals. Good sentence, though jail would have been better. www.lincs.police.uk/news/lincoln...
- www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/... Hunting with dogs has always been a pet hate of mine. It is disappointing (and disgraceful) when some police forces don't play their part in investigating what is mostly criminality.
- I've just read the Animal Welfare Strategy for England. Suprisingly not a word about banning the disgraceful stag hunting with hounds, which is one of the worst animal welfare issues. That certainly needs to be included.
- Many thanks Jackie. For anyone interested I'm always ready to sign copies and post them out.
- www.cambs.police.uk/news/cambrid... They really are horrible individuals who completely disregard the law.
- One of several brown hares I photographed today. It had been one of a group of 7 hares that were involved in mating displays well before the mad March hare time.
- Reposted by Alan StewartI've seen some pretty horrific examples of illegal raptor persecution in my time, but the casual brutality of this gamekeeper, along with the suffering he caused this Buzzard, is v disturbing. Kudos to @rspbinvestigations.bsky.social for securing the footage. This psychopath should be behind bars.
- Gamekeeper Thomas Munday convicted after brutally clubbing a trapped Buzzard to death on a Pheasant shoot at Hovingham, North Yorkshire. Press release and video in blog ⬇️ ‼️WARNING - the video content is highly disturbing. #RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/01/12/g...
- www.pressreader.com/uk/yorkshire... Decent penalty for hare coursers. Interesting investigation that found the DNA of the two men on the hares that had been killed. DNA use is certainly advancing.
- Long-tailed tits favouring the fat balls in this snowy weather.
- Two men and two women arrested in illegal puppy sales investigation www.gmp.police.uk/news/greater...
- news.stv.tv/highlands-is... Supply or use of glue traps banned in Scotland in 2024. Penalty up to 12 months imprisonment and/or fine of £40,000 pounds.
- Needs to be completely banned. oceanographicmagazine.com/news/unprece...
- Christmas? My books on wildlife and wildlife crime are at wildlifedetective.wordpress.com/books/
- Now total of 16 arrests in the foxhunting investigation by Cumbria Police. Maybe this is the start of proper investigations into foxhunting. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
- West Mercia police investigate after dog hit with golf club. Vet bill in excess of £2500. Hope the suspect has to pay this. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
- news.npcc.police.uk/releases/cra... This can only improve the investigation and enforcement of rural and wildlife crime, but still needs better wildlife legislation in England and Wales.
- www.devonlive.com/news/devon-n... "He speaks for the majority of the country whose voices wouldn’t count in the same way.”
- New post on my blog at wildlifedetective.wordpress.com Book Review - Wild Edinburgh by Keith Broomfield
- Reposted by Alan StewartHen Harrier Susie, whose chicks were stamped to death on a Yorkshire Dales grouse moor in 2022, has been found dead on a N Pennines grouse moor with gunshot injuries. 18+ months of silence about this crime from the police & Natural England. #RaptorResearch raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/11/14/h...
- www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... Good work by Cumbria Police assisted by the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit. High time hunting foxes, deer and hares with hounds was properly banned.
- Reposted by Alan StewartKrill, Baby, Krill: The corporations profiting from plundering Antarctica.... changingmarkets.org/report/krill...
- What a horrible individual. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
- Little ringed plovers, Perthshire. Bird of the day - pairs of the same bird.
- Reposted by Alan StewartFarage: epic grifter
- Herons resting in a ploughed field.
- Not just fox hunting of course, legislation needs to properly ban stag hunting and hunting hares with dog packs. morningstaronline.co.uk/article/seni...
- If this is one family then whooper swans seem to have had a good breeding season in Iceland this year. There were more elsewhere on this Perthshire loch, with a high proportion of cygnets.
- Reposted by Alan StewartAn excellent new initiative led by a local community that is sick to the back teeth of illegal raptor persecution inside this National Park. Bravo, @friendsofthedales.bsky.social #RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/10/08/e...
- Reposted by Alan Stewart[Not loaded yet]
- Good investigation and excellent conviction. Always good when the tools of criminals are removed from them. www.essex.police.uk/news/essex/n...
- Two not quite identical brown hares stand to attention. Interesting to spot the subtle differences.
- Reposted by Alan StewartDr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.
- Reposted by Alan Stewart29 'missing' Hen Harriers & nearly 40 birds of prey poisoned, trapped or shot in Yorkshire Dales National Park since 2015. Not so much a National Park - more of a National Disgrace. #RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime #Ornithology #Yorkshire raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/10/04/2...
- Reposted by Alan StewartNatural England confirms ongoing & relentless illegal persecution is reason why Hen Harriers are still rare in England. #RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime #Ornithology raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/10/02/h...
- Reposted by Alan Stewart🙏 💚
- Reposted by Alan StewartThis consultation is an opportunity to put pressure on the HSE to restrict the use of these dangerous toxins. Consultation closes Tues 30 Sept 2025 - please take part! #RaptorResearch #Ornithology raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/09/28/n...
- Reposted by Alan StewartThis is an interesting move. NB: Comments are turned off as criminal proceedings are live ⚖️ #RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime #UKBirding raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/09/26/t...
- Reposted by Alan StewartMore info on why the court judged the RSPB's covert video evidence to be admissible in this important case ⚖️ NB: Comments turned off as legal proceedings are live. #RaptorResearch #Ornithology #WildlifeCrime raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/09/25/m...
- Man convicted after being reported to the police for encouraging his dog to enter badger setts. www.eastlothiancourier.com/news/2548352...
- Rural thieves sentenced www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
- www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-n... The first of the 25 people charged with mass hare coursing and disorder appear in court
- New post on wildlifedetective.wordpress.com Book review - The Highland Cow and the Horse of the Woods by Roy Dennis
- On my walk this morning beside a Perthshire river I watched an otter for 20 mins which kept diving, presumably hunting for fish, though never saw it eating one. Hard to photograph as only on the surface for seconds before diving again.
- More penalties like this for hare coursing would make a real difference. The only factor missing was a disqualification from driving for the driver for using the vehicle in the commission of crime. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
- Reposted by Alan StewartGreat new project providing expert support for farmers & landowners across England who want to host birds of prey. Services include habitat & wildlife surveys, nest box installation & monitoring, Barn Owl planning mitigation & more! #RaptorResearch raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/08/27/b...
- Reposted by Alan StewartLend your voice to support for moves to ban “bottom trawling” – in which fishing gear is dragged across the seabed destroying habitats and scooping up a wide array of species – in protected areas of English seas.... theecologist.org/2025/aug/19/...
- Interesting charge for man who forced seals into the sea. www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottis...
- Roe doe watching me from a barley field on my walk this morning. Caption could be Ears in the Barley.
- I went out this morning again. It was wheat rather than barley. I've spent all my days on farms since the time of binders and stooks. Can't believe that I got the crop wrong!
- Reposted by Alan StewartGreat work from an actual, genuine 'partnership' working on bird of prey conservation in the Peak District. Well done National Trust, Peak District National Park Authority, RSPB, Peak District Raptor Study Group 👏👏 #RaptorResearch raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/08/19/s...
- A huge field in Perthshire full of wild flowers and bees. Some farmers are helping nature recovery.
- Reposted by Alan StewartMy analysis of the CEO of the Moorland Association's (Andrew Gilruth) diatribe. New blog 🔽 raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/08/12/t...
- Good result after investigation by North Wales Police and NWCU. www.northwales.police.uk/news/north-w...
- Police arrest men after they cruelly killed a sheep. www.sussex.police.uk/news/sussex/...
- Reposted by Alan Stewart
- Police seize wild bird trapping equipment in Wolverhampton. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
- news.met.police.uk/news/teenage... Well-deserved custodial sentences for teenage pair who tortured kittens.
