One hundred more police officers are being trained to tackle rising levels of wildlife crime, in Scotland towns and cities as well as rural areas.
Nearly 250 wildlife crimes were recorded between April 2014 and last month, including bird poisoning, badger baiting and trading in endangered species.
So Police Scotland has launched a new campaign on wildlife crime, but environmentalists say it is not enough as "what we see is just the tip of the iceberg."
Umbrella organisation Scottish Environment LINK, which has over 35 member bodies has already published "a damning indictment of our failure to diminish or eliminate wildlife crime in Scotland" . The groups claim Scotland's international reputation as a wildlife haven is in jeopardy and say there has to be the political will to respond effectively.
Criminal gangs are known to be involved in the likes of badger-baiting and fresh water mussel theft, while poisoned of birds of prey are most commonly found on sporting estates, or sometimes farmland.
The environmental groups want " Determined, intelligence-led, carefully targeted and community based policing is required, particularly in areas where a wall of silence seems to surround wildlife offences. "
A network of wildlife police officers already investigate incidents but more than 100 additional officers have now had wildlife crime training, with further courses to be held, to "substantially increase the number of officers with specialist knowledge".
The public are also being urged to report any suspicious activity involving wildlife with a series of online and newspaper adverts aimed at raising awareness.
Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham said: "Scotland's natural heritage is under threat from criminals preying on the country's iconic wildlife, either for sport or many cases for their own gain.Wildlife crime doesn't just happen in the countryside, it also occurs in urban areas.
"We have evidence of badger baiting metres from housing estates, deer being poached from city parks and bat roosts being destroyed. Wildlife crime occurs across all of our communities.Tackling wildlife crime is not just about law enforcement, it is about working with partners and the public to raise awareness, and to prevent it happening.
"By the time we are involved it is too late, that creature is lost and our landscape is poorer for the loss."
He said Police Scotland was committed to investigating wildlife crime. "Our detection rate is increasing but investigations into wildlife crime can be difficult and prolonged, and the areas covered can be vast and remote."
Andy Myles, Advocacy Manager at Scottish Environment LINK welcomed the additional focus and resources Police Scotland could offer and its public information work. But he added:
"By and large though, we know the minorities who are committing wildlife crimes in Scotland and we believe it is these groups who should be the main target of police work. In addition to the broad brush approach, LINK calls for more strategically targeted, intelligence led, community based policing to tackle the criminals, as we called for recently in our paper 'Natural Injustice'"
In this report, Scottish Environment LINK found the extent of wildlife crime is vastly greater than suggested by the numbers of incidents, police investigations and prosecutions.
It concluded "The political will to stamp out wildlife crime has been tempered, lacking or not exerted in an effective manner. There is a serious question as to whether the 'partnership approach' adopted by the Scottish Government has failed. The example provided by the near elimination of egg-collecting has not been followed."
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