Good news! The police force in the U.K. has finally begun recording incidents of wildlife crimes to help protect endangered species…wait a second, does that mean they weren’t doing this before?!

Yes, that’s right, police officers have only just NOW been instructed to keep detailed notes on cases of wildlife smuggling as a means to actually track down the criminals behind the ruthless wildlife trade. So what were they doing before, just giving out warnings and hoping for the best? Who knows.

In the past, wildlife crimes were not separated out into their own category, making it difficult for municipalities across the United Kingdom to track patterns – an essential part of finding trade routes and the people responsible.

While this may seem a little too late, it is actually good news as it signals the growing push to combat illegal trafficking of wildlife.

On the decision to start tracking wildlife crimes more closely, the Home Office Minister, Norman Baker said, “We have a duty to take on the callous individuals [wildlife traffickers]who don’t care what they’re doing. They’re completely immoral.”

We could not agree with you more Mr. Baker, with nearly 100 elephants being killed every day for their ivory, it is time that we began to treat wildlife crime with the same severity that we treat every other sort of illegal smuggling/trafficking offense.

Earlier this year, 46 representatives from countries across the world sat down to discuss the illegal wildlife trade to come up with new solutions to help end the brutality. It appears that this important step being made in the U.K. is the first of many more international efforts to end the trade. We look forward to seeing what’s next!

Image source: JensANDMarian/Wikipedia Commons