By Jordi Janssen, Andrew Lemieux, Amy Nivette, Stijn Ruiter

Wildlife are natural resources utilised by many people around the world, both legally and illegally, for a wide range of purposes. This scoping review evaluates 82 studies nested in 75 manuscripts to provide an overview of the documented motivations and methodologies used, and to identify and analyse knowledge gaps in the motivations of illegal harvesters. Studies differ in what data is collected, often leaving out important contextual variables. We find 12 different motivations, frequently interlinked and multiple often play a role in the same harvesting incident. Motivations seemed to differ between taxa. Future research needs to move beyond a general description but recognise the complexity of the matter and allow for context-specific adjustments to facilitate a deeper understanding of these motivations.

GLOBAL CRIME 2024, VOL. 25, NO. 2, 97–121

By Nick Van Doormaal, A.M. Lemieux, Stijn Ruiter, Paul M.R.R. Allin, Craig R. Spencer

Many studies of wildlife poaching acknowledge the challenges of detecting poaching activities, but few address the issue. Data on poaching may be an inaccurate reflection of the true spatial distribution of events because of low detection rates. The deployment of conservation and law enforcement resources based on biased data could be ineffective or lead to unintended outcomes. Here, we present a rigorous method for estimating the probabilities of detecting poaching and for evaluating different patrol strategies. We illustrate the method with a case study in which imitation snares were set in a private nature reserve in South Africa. By using an experimental design with a known spatial distribution of imitation snares, we estimated the detection probability of the current patrol strategy used in the reserve and compared it to three alternative patrol strategies: spatially focused patrols, patrols with independent observers, and systematic search patterns. Although detection probabilities were generally low, the highest proportion of imitation snares was detected with systematic search strategies. Our study provides baseline data on the probability of detecting snares used for poaching, and presents a method that can be modified for use in other regions and for other types of wildlife poaching.

Oryx , Volume 56 , Issue 4 , July 2022 , pp. 572 - 580

By Marieke Kluin · Lisa Ansems · Jelle Brands

The public has grown increasingly concerned about environmental issues. However, few studies examine the perceived seriousness of environmental crimes. Those that do tend to focus on US citizens and compare crime seriousness ratings among different types of crimes, rather than examining the factors that shape perceptions of environmental crime seriousness. By employing a vignette survey among Dutch citizens (N=261), the current paper seeks to address this knowledge gap. It focuses on two such factors: (1) whether or not the environmental crime is committed intentionally, and (2) whether or not the environmental crime causes considerable harm. The results show that environmental crimes were perceived as more serious when committed intentionally and when they caused considerable harm. Furthermore, intentions affected perceived seriousness less in case of harm and harm affected perceived seriousness less in case the crime was committed intentionally. Together, these findings enhance our understanding of the factors that shape the perceived seriousness of environmental crimes.

Crime, Law and Social Change (2025) 83:3

By Jeffrey E. Clutter , Samuel Peterson , Samantha Henderson and Cory P. Haberman

Weather variables, like temperature and precipitation, have long been established as predictors of criminal behavior. So too have researchers established the importance of controlling for potentially criminogenic places when predicting when and where crimes will occur at micro-level units of analysis. The current study examines the role that temperature and precipitation play, along with places, in the odds of street robbery occurrence on street blocks in Cincinnati, Ohio. Using multilevel modeling, with days clustered within street blocks, our results showed that temperature, but not precipitation, predicted increased odds of street robbery occurrence, even after controlling for the presence of potentially criminogenic places. We conclude that research should continue to examine these important relationships, specifcally how weather impacts the role of places in the formation of criminal opportunities

Crime Science (2024) 13:42