Lancashire poachers trapped by DNA testing (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Lancashire poachers trapped by DNA testing

11:29am Tuesday 5th August 2008 in News By Camilla Sutcliffe

POACHERS could soon find themselves with nowhere to hide, thanks to an innovative police crackdown.

Shooting deer, pheasants and grouse on other people’s land has become big business again, thanks to a boom in the game market.

But DNA techniques mean police are now on the poachers’ tails.

Officers have begun to swab grallocks – entrails of deer which are left behind on the land – for their genetic map, so that they can be linked to carcasses found at suspects’ homes.

PC Duncan Thomas, wildlife officer for Lancashire police, said: “Poachers leave the grallocks on the land because they need to be taken out straight away or they will cause the meat to deteriorate, and they are difficult to dispose of at home.

“For some years DNA has been used to detect the theft of peregrine falcon chicks and eggs.

"There is no reason why the same principle can’t assist in the detection of deer poaching.”

He said officers were working with agencies including the British Association for Shooting and Con-servation, to build up a bank of DNA from legally shot or harvested animals which can be compared with samples from suspected poachers’ meat.

PC Thomas said: “Deer poaching is widespread across Lancashire.

"The people involved are often also responsible for the full range of ‘conventional criminality’ like farm burglaries, metal and fuel theft.

"We recently had a job when a poacher’s vehicle was searched and the proceeds of two West Yorkshire house burglaries were discovered.

“The increased price of venison is also starting to fuel a demand – there will always be a small proportion of game dealers, pubs or restaurants willing to accept dodgy venison at the back door, and the profits are considerable.

“The project has been welcomed by landowners, estate managers and the game industry.

"It’s still in its embryonic stages but could well prove a priceless asset when linking an illegal grallock with a carcass hanging in the poachers’ larder or shed.”

Roger Hope, who runs Harrison and Kerr specialist butcher, Clitheroe, said a crackdown was essential to ensure good supplies for legitimate traders.

He said: “When people shoot out of season it creates a real problems because it interferes with breeding patterns.

“Poachers eat into the profits of people like me and my suppliers, and they aren’t bothered about making sure animals don’t suffer, so it’s great to see the police taking action.”