Thousands of eggs seized by rural crime officers in Gloucestershire

Thousands of eggs have been seized by police in the Forest of Dean as part of a national operation to tackle the international organised illegal wildlife trade.

The investigation originated in Norway in June 2023 and since then 16 warrants have been executed and over 50,000 eggs have been seized and 16 people arrested.

During the latest part of the operation, officers from Gloucestershire Constabulary conducted a warrant at an address in the Forest of Dean as part of coordinated warrants which took place across the country.

Around 5,000 eggs from a variety of birds were seized during the warrant in November. No arrests have been made but investigations are continuing.

The Gloucestershire investigation was led by the Constabulary's Rural Crime Team.

Police Constable Cath McDay, rural, wildlife and heritage crime officer, said: “Birds, their eggs and their nests are protected under numerous pieces of legislation.

“Unfortunately, some people still like to collect eggs. When those eggs are taken, those birds are no longer in the wild and are no longer breeding.

“Our wildlife is vitally important in this country and something that we should be targeting. Organised crime is often involved, and a huge amount of money can go back and forth in these deals.

“While our officers will rightly always focus on crimes involving drugs, violence and sexual assault, there is still a need to protect our wildlife.

“Our Rural Crime Team, while small, is committed to ensuring that we are doing all we can to look after the natural world around us.”

Detective Inspector Mark Harrison, from the National Wildlife Crime Unit, said: “The taking, possessing, and trading of wild bird eggs is illegal and overall, it is believed that these crimes are less common than they were.

“However, clearly it still goes on and as the overall number of birds is declining it can be argued that this crime has an even greater impact now than it did years ago. These criminals are very well organised and connected. The rarer a species is, the higher its demand and value to these criminals.

“Policing is under pressure now with competing demands and priorities. In amongst that work, it is important that we can still take action to protect our wildlife. I can`t thank the police officers, staff, and partners enough for their help and support during this operation. The investigation is ongoing and there is more work to do but this sends out a strong message to all wildlife criminals.”