In July 2024, we launched a petition following the announcement that the Metropolitan Police Service had removed its detectives from the Wildlife Crime Unit and would no longer have specific detectives combating wildlife crime.
Thousands and thousands of you added your comments, for which we can only thank you for being such a strong voice of support for our wildlife, both at home in the UK and those wild animals exploited around the World.
Your support enabled us to engage positively with senior officers within the Met. Last week, we had a face-to-face meeting in London to address our and, ultimately, your concerns.
We made positive progress
We believe that the Met is trying to put processes in place to deliver a better police service to those who need them as well as maintaining a commitment to the enforcement of wildlife crime, neither of which can be an easy task.
We asked direct questions, and they sought to allay our fears and yours.
We have committed to supporting the Met in their work to enforce wildlife crime. We will provide a continued level of advice and support and hold them accountable in their response to wildlife crime.
The Met recognises that open communication is important and has agreed to share more about their wildlife crime work with the public and what the future plan looks like. Whilst it isn’t our place to talk about their internal workings, there will be updates on their website in the near future. Please continue to report wildlife crime to the Met if this is your or the relevant force area.
Without our supporters raising the roof in relation to this, we wouldn’t have been able to open such positive communication with the Met. Without you, we’d have been in the dark and no further forward for wildlife.
Bear with us on this. It’s not a quick fix and it’s not the perfect ending. However, we believe that we can support the Met’s response to wildlife crime in London and the illegal wildlife trade, for the long term and see perpetrators brought to justice.
Please visit our website for more information on our Wildlife Crime work and the illegal wildlife trade.
