Angela Smith – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2014-03-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what facilities exist for the retention and care of non-native wildlife species confiscated in the UK; where those facilities are located; and how many times such non-native wildlife species confiscated have been returned to the people or location where they were first confiscated.

George Eustice

Non-native wildlife specimens (including plants) may be retained for various reasons by the Police, UK Border Force (UKBF), Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (RBG Kew), local authorities and other organisations such as the RSPCA.

RBG Kew has a Plant Quarantine Unit and keeps records of all plant material entering its collections but not records of confiscated specimens that are returned to the people or location they were confiscated from.

UKBF re-homes seized wildlife after having consulted with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, the UK’s CITES scientific authority for fauna, on appropriate location. It has not been UK practice to return wildlife to countries of export as there is no guarantee of its return to the wild or that it will not re-enter illegal trade. UKBF does not disclose publically the locations where seized items are held. All seized animals remain the property of the crown.

No police-run facilities exist for the retention and care of non-native wildlife species confiscated in the UK: each case is dealt with on an ad-hoc basis. Information about returned specimens is not held centrally.

Defra does not hold information about holding facilities used by local authorities and other organisations.