A wolf registered as M237 was shot illegally in April 2023 in Hungary. The GPS-collared wolf was tracked for 1,900 kilometres from Switzerland to Hungary, making it the longest recorded dispersal by a wolf in Europe. After the wolf’s GPS collar sent unusual information, the Hungarian Police launched a search operation and found the collar […]
On July 2023, the 31st International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB), the premier global meeting for conservation scientists and professionals, hosted a talk from the LIFE SWiPE project team about the situation of wildlife crime in Spain. The congress, organized by the Society for Conservation Biology, took place from July 23-27, 2023 in Kigali, Rwanda. […]
Wildlife crime is devastating for endangered European species and a growing risk to our societies’ economic development and security, but most cases still go unpunished or undetected. This is one of the main findings of a new report published on July 5th 2023 by the LIFE SWiPE project, ‘Uncovering the Invisible: Successes and Challenges for […]
The SWiPE project, currently in its final stage, brought together representatives of the project partners from 11 countries for a meeting on June 15th and 16th. Held in Sofia, Bulgaria, the meeting was part of a LIFE monitoring mission conducted by the European Climate, Environment and Infrastructure Executive Agency and ELMEN EEIG, with participants attending […]
A splendid spring Sunday, a historic square full of tourists, a symbolic day – Earth Day: an ideal mix for an event that marked only the latest in a long series of communication activities of the SWiPE project in Italy. At the end of more than two years organizing press trips, producing hundreds of articles […]
TRAFFIC and WWF are launching the ‘Wildlife Money Trails’ report to help law enforcement authorities and financial institutions uncover financial crimes related to wildlife and timber trafficking in the EU. The report features 16 case studies amounting to 18 million euros of illicit profits. Wildlife and timber trafficking often involves transnational organised crime networks and […]
Ukranian public prosecutors met in Kyev for a 3-day training to boost their knowledge and skills for the prosecution of wildlife and environmental crimes in times of armed conflict. Methods to counteract wildlife crimes, investigation of environmental offences, implementation of procedural management and support of public prosecution — these and many other topics were covered […]
The report analyzes the territorial scope of poisonings, the substances used and the evolution of their use over time, the origins and causes of the illegal use of poison baits and especially the impact it has on wildlife
In a successful case against wildlife crime, prosecutors in Hungary brought charges against four hunters who killed a strictly protected cinereous vulture and four common buzzards. The perpetrators were caught thanks to the GPS tracker carried by the vulture, and also to the decisive help of poison and carcass detection canine unit of Birdlife Hungary. […]
Illegal poison-baits are the most widely used method for killing predators on a global scale, a massive method of eliminating animals considered harmful to livestock or game species. It is a serious threat to biodiversity in many European countries, as shown by data from Spain where thousands of wild animals -including threatened species- are still […]