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

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to take any action regarding the discontinuation of the Dorset Police investigation into the poisoning of a white-tailed eagle in the county; and what steps they plan to take to protect white-tailed eagles and other domestic and wild animals from similar poisoning incidents.

Enforcement of wildlife offences is an operational matter for the police and it is not for the Government to comment on individual police investigations. However, where any protected birds are killed illegally the full force of the law should apply to any proven perpetrators of the crime. We have significant sanctions for this type of wildlife crime in place which includes an unlimited fine and/or a six-month custodial sentence.

The Government supports the White-Tailed Eagle reintroduction project and hopes this extraordinary bird thrives in England as it has in parts of Scotland.

The Government takes all wildlife crime seriously. To address concerns about the illegal killing of birds of prey, senior government and enforcement officers have identified raptor persecution as a national wildlife crime priority. Defra continues to be fully involved with the police-led national Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group and Natural England continues to work closely with wildlife crime officers. Defra has also more than doubled its funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) from £165,000 per year to over £1.2 million over the next three years to target wildlife crime priorities including raptor persecution. The NWCU monitors and gathers intelligence on wildlife crime and aids police forces in their investigations when required.