Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many incidents of poaching of animals there have been in the UK in each of the last five years.

Defra does not hold this information. However, partly in response to intelligence reports of poaching received by the National Wildlife Crime Unit through police forces, poaching is one of the UK wildlife crime priorities. If Defra received reports of poaching, either the information would be passed to the police, or the person reporting the activity would be advised to contact the police.