Part of an international initiative to combat organised wildlife crime, similar seizures in Australia and Norway have recovered more than 50,000 eggs. More than 6,000 eggs have been seized in the biggest haul of its kind in UK history, after police carried out raids in Scotland, South Yorkshire, Essex, Wales and Gloucester. Thousands of eggs were found secreted in attics, offices and drawers.
The UK raids took place in November as part of Operation Pulka, an international effort to tackle organised wildlife crime – specifically the taking, possessing and trading of wild birds’ eggs. The raids began in June 2023 in Norway, and resulted in 16 arrests and the seizure of 50,000 eggs. In Australia, an estimated 3,500 eggs have been seized, worth up to A$500,000 (£250,000).
Intelligence suggests this is a single, international crime network. The National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) says it is the largest of its kind in the UK in terms of the number of eggs and the scale of the network. DI Mark Harrison from NWCU said: “These criminals are very well organised and connected. The rarer a species is, the higher its demand and value to these criminals. It is likely some of the eggs are very rare.”.
“The scale of this operation is alarming”, said Dominic Meeks from the University of Cambridge. “Previous seizures have been the product of singular obsessive individuals, but the complexity of this operation appears to be far greater, with numerous actors operating in different countries. The larger the scale of the operation, the greater the potential for negative impacts on the target species’ wild populations.”.
