WARNING: This article contains graphic images and videos of animal cruelty
CAPTURED, CAGED AND sold off to be killed… the cruel reality of Ireland’s underground wildlife trade.
The Journal Investigates can reveal how foxes, badgers, hares and rabbits are being snared and sold as live bait inside illegal hunting networks.
The animals are being used to ‘blood’ vicious hunting dogs, whose owners engage in brutal acts of wildlife cruelty.
That includes badger baiting, illegal hare coursing and dog-on-wildlife attacks where animals are forced to fight for their lives.
A single fox comes with a €100 price tag, while rabbits and hares — usually netted from the wild in bulk — are sold for around €20 each.
However, it is badgers — a vulnerable species protected under the Wildlife Act — which make the most money on the black market.
The Journal Investigates can today expose the vile trafficking trade and reveal how wildlife offenders successfully prosecuted through the Courts are normally sentenced under the Probation Act, meaning the offences aren’t recorded as criminal convictions.
Animal welfare experts now warn that Ireland is facing a wildlife crime crisis unless State action is taken to address the growing problem.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) – the government body responsible for enforcing wildlife legislation – said combating wildlife crime remains its core mandate in its mission to ‘protect nature’.
“This ethos is embedded throughout the organisation of 540 people, in each Division and in each Directorate and we continue to deliver on this mandate,” a spokesperson said.
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For the last number of months, The Journal Investigates has been monitoring the activities of a number of illegal hunting networks operating in Ireland.
Although highly secretive, some post about their criminal acts in private Facebook groups where members are vetted by a series of questions before being allowed to join.
Most use coded language when referring to their illegal activity. For example, almost all hunted wildlife is referred to as “quarry”, except for badgers.
The protected species is called a “pig”, with many illegal hunters simply using a pig emoji when referring to hunting and baiting badgers in group posts.
Animals trafficked and sold as live bait are referred to as “livers” and are advertised on a “first come, first served” basis.
The Journal Investigates is aware of at least six pro-hunting groups where rabbits, foxes, badgers and hares are being sold in Ireland. One has more than 4,400 members.
Wildlife is normally advertised in the “community chat” section — where all members can send and receive private messages from anyone within the groups.
One individual, based in the south of the country, sent members of one group videos of him catching “bags” of live rabbits.
The footage, which appeared to be recorded in the early hours of the morning, showed the man unzipping backpacks holding the visibly shaken animals.
“I’ve bags of them,” he said. “Four in this one and three in the other.”
Asked in the comment section of the post how much a “live bunny” was currently making, the man replied “€20”.
In another video, posted on a different hunting group, a man holds a live rabbit up to the camera.
The mobile phone clip then pans out to show a large net covering the banks of a field.
He says: “Number four boys, another rabbit…great banks here.”
The man, from the west of the country, then walks towards a makeshift cage — made out of two steel shopping baskets — where three other live rabbits are enclosed.
The Journal Investigates asked the NPWS if it monitors social media sites as part of its evidence gathering process to bring wildlife crime prosecutions.
A spokesperson said: “NPWS is not in a position to comment for operational reasons on its investigative approaches.”
Foxes are also advertised for sale in the barbaric underground trade.
The Journal Investigates has obtained images and videos of caged foxes being posted in the online groups. The wild animals are typically sold for around €100 each.
In one video, a terrified fox can be seen trying to escape from a wooden dog box.
Another image shows a fox enclosed in a steel cage with the caption: “First come first served…100 bob [sic].”
Requests are also made to purchase wildlife within the social media groups.
One individual, who asked if there were any “small cub foxes” for sale, wrote: “Good money there lads if ye have something for me [sic].”
Hares are also sold for up to €30 each, while badgers can reach hundreds of euros.
According to Dr Paddy Sleeman, who has carried out extensive work and research on badger persecution over the last 30 years, the animals are traded across the border for even higher prices.
Sleeman said differences in wildlife legislation, including Ireland’s nationwide badger vaccine programme, has led to a bigger demand for the protected species in Northern Ireland.
“So what we think is that badgers are transported to Northern Ireland, for baiting practices from our vaccine areas in the Republic.
“And we think that they charge extra for badgers from vaccinated areas to avoid their dogs getting TB,” he said.
As well as being illegal under the Wildlife Act, such activity goes against the social media giant’s own “community standards”.
In a statement to The Journal Investigates, Facebook said it had taken action to remove “some posts” from the groups we highlighted for “coordinating harm and promoting crime”.
At the time of publication, six groups remained active and online.
Data obtained by The Journal Investigates under Access to Information on the Environment (AIE) shows that 11 prosecutions for illegal possession of wildlife were brought before Irish courts between 2010 and 2023.
While all NPWS investigations that were prosecuted by the Chief State Solicitor’s Office (CSO) were successful, none of the offenders ended up with a criminal record when sentenced by judges.
Five were dealt with under the Probation Act, with most offenders ordered to pay a donation to an animal charity.
At district court level, which primarily deals with wildlife crime prosecutions, a probation order is not a recorded conviction.
A further five defendants received a fine or ordered to pay a donation to a wildlife organisation, with no conviction recorded.
One case was dealt with via a forfeiture order, where animals, equipment or money linked to the illegal activity is seized by the State.
Again, the offence — heard in a Galway court in 2022 — was not recorded as a criminal conviction.
The Journal Investigates analysed wildlife crime case data, provided by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), over the past 13 years.
It revealed that of the total 346 prosecutions brought before Irish courts under wildlife crime legislation, 67% did not result in a criminal conviction.
Of the 113 prosecutions recorded as convictions, five were community service orders and four were suspended prison terms.
Out of all prosecutions for that period, not one offender was jailed for any wildlife offence.
The NPWS is responsible for investigating wildlife crime and passing this evidence on to the Chief State Solicitor’s Office for prosecution, but responsibility for sentencing of offenders lies solely with judges in court.
A spokesperson said: ”The NPWS must respect and accept the outcome of a Court’s decision
“Once a matter has been adjudicated by the court, we cannot comment further on the specifics of a case or a decision.”
Dr Andrew Kelly, former CEO of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said the failure of Irish courts to criminalise wildlife offenders has helped exacerbate the problem.
“The fact that two thirds of prosecutions are dealt with by the courts in the manner without a criminal conviction being recorded again, just shows that Ireland really doesn’t take some of these things very seriously,” he said.
“It just isn’t acceptable any more.”
Under the 1976 Wildlife Act, it is a criminal offence to hunt, kill or possess a wild bird or mammal without a licence granted by the NPWS.
Disturbing a protected species or damaging their habitats is also illegal.
Those found committing an offence face fines of up to €100,000, prison or both.
Despite this, acts of wildlife crime and cruelty appear to be occurring on an almost daily basis in Ireland.
Sleeman, a researcher with University College Cork, described those involved in the dark trade as “sadistic”.
“People who hurt animals also hurt people, that’s the bottom line,” he said.
“Often they are involved in other criminality, from drugs to prostitution. This is what’s called a dark triangle, these people are Machiavellian, they are sadistic.”
Former ISPCA chief Kelly, who is currently director of the UK-based Freedom to Protect Animals group, said Ireland has grappled with combating wildlife crime for some time.
“It’s partly resources and partly political,” he told The Journal Investigates.
“Unfortunately, the countryside lobby in Ireland is very powerful.
“That’s why it’s still legal to hunt foxes with hounds, for example, where it’s been banned in Scotland, England and Wales since 2004.
Analysis of wildlife crime data by The Journal Investigates shows disparities in the number of prosecutions brought in each county over the last 13 years.
For example, in Cork, the largest county in Ireland, 17 wildlife prosecutions were recorded between 2010 and 2023.
However in Offaly, an area significantly smaller than Cork, 40 prosecutions took place in the same period.
Overall, the midlands area recorded the highest wildlife crime prosecution rate.
Along with Offaly, Westmeath recorded 30 wildlife prosecutions while in Laois, 29 cases involving wildlife offences were brought before the courts.
Sligo had the lowest number of prosecutions, with just three cases recorded in 13 years.
Asked about the difference in county prosecutions, the NPWS said: “Disparity in prosecution statistics is multifactorial and can include varying levels of public awareness and varying levels of vulnerable habitat and species.
“For example, in a National Park, the volumes of visitors can be a deterrent to criminals.”
The Journal Investigates also asked NPWS about the number of conservation rangers who have brought wildlife prosecutions over the last 13 years and where they are based.
A spokesperson would only confirm that the number of rangers currently employed stands at 100.
This is a “significant increase” from 2021, the NPWS said.
“An often unseen effort by NPWS is the time spent patrolling, monitoring, responding to reports, investigating, engaging with stakeholders and preventing and deterring crimes,” the spokesperson added.
The department added that from 2020 to date, it has forwarded 166 cases to the Chief State Solicitor’s Office for prosecution.
A total of 26 cases are due to be heard in court in the coming months, the NPWS said.
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In October 2020, Minister of State for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Malcolm Noonan announced the establishment of a Wildlife Crime Unit within the NPWS.
In a statement at the time, Minister Noonan said the establishment of such a unit is “a matter of significant public interest and concern”.
By not establishing a dedicated unit to address wildlife crime, there may be serious implications for the conservation and preservation of Ireland’s natural habitats and wildlife.
A decision was later taken by the department to not proceed with a dedicated wildlife crime unit.
Responsibility for combating and dealing with wildlife crime was placed under a new Wildlife Enforcement and Nature Protection Directorate.
Under AIE regulations, The Journal Investigates requested the NPWS to release documents on the department’s decision-making to scrap the unit in favour of a directorate.
NPWS declined our request, stating that disclosure would be contrary to the public interest, would “adversely affect” the course of justice and “prejudice or impair” the prevention, detection or investigation of offences.
The Journal Investigates asked the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) to investigate the department’s refusal, citing the importance of transparency surrounding decisions impacting on biodiversity protection.
The OIC has since accepted our appeal and is currently investigating.
In a statement, the NPWS claimed there was “no decision to not proceed with the establishment of a wildlife crime unit”.
A spokesperson claimed that a dedicated “Directorate of Wildlife Enforcement and Nature Protection” is an “upgrade” in the level of responsibility and “signifying the importance placed on tackling wildlife crime”.
The NPWS added that a directorate is “more senior, better resourced and has more authority than a unit”.
The spokesperson added: “Combating wildlife crime remains a core mandate of NPWS in its mission to ‘protect nature’.
“This ethos is embedded throughout the organisation of 540 people, in each Division and in each Directorate and we continue to deliver on this mandate.”
Setting up a wildlife crime unit is one of “the main things” that former ISPCA chief Dr Andrew Kelly wants to happen.
He also said that NPWS resources need to increase significantly. “Not just by 10%, it needs to be doubled.”
If “half” of the public money used to support horse racing here – which is subsidised by government — was given to the NPWS, there would be a “significant improvement” in tackling wildlife crime, Kelly said.
However, he added: “But there just seems to be no will amongst the government.”
Kelly said banning the controversial sport of hare coursing would also free up resources to tackle wildlife crime, as well as putting Ireland on a par with other European countries where the activity is illegal.
“It just boggles my mind how some of these things are still legal when Ireland is a progressive country in so many other ways.”
Reporter: Patricia Devlin • Editor: Maria Delaney • Video Production: Nicky Ryan • Social Media: Sadbh Cox • Main Image Design: Lorcan O’Reilly
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