17/02/2014 Inside Out South West

Tonight, the disturbing evidence that poaching is no longer just one

for the pot. It is the barbaric way it is done.

It might take a field or two fields to pull the thing down, and then

they, in some way, stab the thing to death.

Also tonight, they have been waterlogged for weeks. What is the

solution for the Somerset Levels? Is it worth sacrificing some land

here in order to save the rest? Effectively, this could become the

sacrificial lamb that they are talking about.

And Nick Baker wades in with the waterfowl.

I don't think there is anywhere else in the South Westwhere you can see

this number of birds so close. I am Sam Smith. Welcome to Inside

Out South West. First tonight, we investigate the

alarming rise in poaching in the South West and evidence that the

crime has taken an alarming new direction. This report contains some

pictures of butchered dear. Police here. Can we come in?

The crackdown on poaching. This is one of several addresses across the

being raided by officers from the police and RSPCA.

We told you why we are here and why we are searching the premises.

In the back garden, they make a grisly discovery. And a number of

dogs suspected of being used for poaching are seized.

Out of our target of the 15 dogs that we were looking to identify to

start off with, we have got three here. Also in the back garden, we

have got a deer's head, legs of deer, hindquarters, all chopped up.

They are kept in really miserable conditions.

A person is arrested and the dogs are inspected for injuries. What

nobody here has been convicted of wrongdoing, the authorities say that

poaching is on the increase and they are seeing more and more evidence of

a worrying new trend. It seems to be groups of young lads

that are becoming not organised, but forming gangs that are going out and

roaming the countryside at night. With this purpose in mind, to just

set their dogs on and destroy anything that moves.

A lightning fast lurcher is let loose on a young deer or fawn.

Hunting with dogs was outlawed in 2005, but this footage is said to

have been shot before the ban. The dog soon catches its prey, the

pictures are too distressing to show, but the soundtrack speaks for

itself. The police and RSPCA say that this

is typical of the kind of material that they are finding more and more

on laptops, tablets and mobile phones seized from poachers.

Some of the video that we've seen is absolutely barbaric and we wouldn't

be able to show it on television or for general release. It is that bad.

There is a level of cruelty that I have not seen before.

Sergeant Canning is a wildlife crime officer. He is on the front line in

the fight against the growing problem of poaching.

More than 44% of all intelligence reported to the National Wildlife

Crime Unit is related to poaching and Devon has a bigger poaching

problem than anywhere else in the UK.

This is big business. These are all taken at night, illegally, probably

trespassing as well. They are indiscriminate, they don't care

whose land they are on and where they go. They turn up at night and

run their dog on some deer. Here we are. Would we see deer here?

It is all a long way from the traditional image of the man taking

one for the pot, which former poacher Dave French grew up with.

When I was a youngster, born and bred in the country, most people

poached fish or rabbits, whatever, in their time. And it is all part of

the upbringing in the countryside. Dave now runs a deer management

group and he is worried that poachers are already having a big

impact on numbers. Nowadays, I am afraid that with the

climate as it is, it is down to money and they've got these big dogs

which bring down the deer and the fawns are that much smaller and

easier to hold onto by the dogs. I mean, you see groups of 20 fallow

without fawns. Where did the fawns go?

Fallow deer managers Nick Pitts and Mark Heyes are also concerned. They

reckon that the poachers may have taken as many as 100 deer from their

patch. We were a good 30 or 40% down on

this time last year and the really sad thing is that most of the fawns

seem to have gone. This year's fawns.

Nick and Mark are also licensed to cull deer to control the population

and maintain a healthy herd. Because of the culling, we have a

programme right through the age spectrum. We don't take many fawns,

but we have to take some. So that age group will be missing in two or

three years time. It is a clean kill. Very different

to the methods used by the poachers. They are basically hunting with

dogs, which is illegal. But it is the barbaric way that it

is done. It might take a field or two fields to pull the thing down.

It is completely terrified, the dogs are ragging it and tearing it apart.

It must be a terrible shock. And then they, in some way, stab it to

death. It is now going to be bled. So you

get the wishbone here and just push the knife in there.

It is vital that the animal is gutted or gralloched to avoid

contamination of the meat and check for any signs of disease.

It is the hygiene side of it that really worries me. We are very

careful if it is on the ground when we are gralloching it, it is kept

clean. They don't worry about anything like that. They probably

chuck it in the back of the car with the dogs.

Always do a quick inspection of the deer's health, and it is in good

nick. Nothing to think that there would be anything wrong with the

animal. Nick and Mark are also skilled

butchers. All of the venison that they produce is fully traceable.

After we skin it, we open up the chest cavity and take anything out,

weigh the animal, label it and give it a carcass tag that gives it a

unique tag that we can trace it right through the system. It goes

into our records and, in the long term in the restaurant, they have a

number that they can trace that animal back to the field that it was

shot in, the estate and who shot it. Part of our job as a trained hunter

is to declare the animal fit for the food chain.

And the next link in that the chain is just down the road. The

restaurant of BBC Masterchef winner Anton Piotrowski, who values the

quality of the venison Nick and Mark supply.

If you run it down the back, you can put your knife against it like that.

You won't see any meat left, as well. So it is good quality, it will

be super tender and there is no harm in just tasting it in its raw state.

He says that he is offered venison at the back door all the time, but

would never even consider buying it. If a deer has come in from someone

at the back of the lorry, then I can't take it, because I have no

traceability of where that has come from. Where it has been shot well,

looked after well, there is no tension in this as well. If it was

torn apart, you would not be seeing this. It would be like leather. At

the end of the day, I have to worry about the customers and the quality.

Another raid, another suspected poacher is arrested and more dogs

are seized. Although nobody here has yet been convicted of any crime, the

crackdown continues. They are doing these vicious and

barbaric acts of cruelty, we are there. The police are aware and they

will exert to mount this type of operation and we will be there to

make sure that they stop this. Today is a demonstration that we are

very active in tackling organised rural crime.

But the authorities are increasingly frustrated that the punishment often

no longer seems to fit the level of crime that they are seeing.

Anyone convicted under the original 1828 poaching by night law could

have been transported overseas for seven years, or faced two years hard

labour. But the law has been amended in recent years and a maximum

sentence magistrates can impose now is six months in prison. Some

believe that that is nowhere near enough.

It certainly is a gross miscarriage of justice that some of these guys

can get the same as somebody who has done much less of a crime. The

maximum of six months in prison is not enough for some of the horrific

crimes that have been committed by these people.

And custodial sentences are relatively rare. Often the best that

the police and the RSPCA can hope for is a hefty fine and a lifetime

ban from keeping dogs, who frequently themselves victims of the

cruelty of poaching. It's been the wettest start to a

year on record, bringing chaos to many parts of the South West and

beyond. But, could one answer to the problem of flooding be found

overseas? Here is our reporter. On the Somerset Levels, 65 square

kilometres of farmland, homes and businesses are flooded. Interrupting

lives and causing misery. Four weeks ago, we filmed James Winslade, and

livestock farmer near Moorland, struggling on despite most of his

land being underwater. My land is out over there. So most

of the farm is flooded and there is no compensation, no insurance for

it. Now, far from receding, the water has continued to rise across

the Levels. Communities are in chaos, evacuating their homes as

life here becomes impossible. You have read about it, what you think

about it now you have seen it? When you see it, you fully

appreciate it, which you don't when you see pictures on the TV or read

about it. Nigel Wright is an expert on flood

defences. I've invited him to the Levels to get his view on what the

options are here. We've had record`breaking rainfall

for the last couple of months, so it landed here, the land is very flat,

so it just spreads out and, at the same time, the river is taking all

the water upstream, and you just can't pump it quick enough to get

rid of it. What do you make of the crop of solutions being suggested

here? The main one being dredging. There are very whole range of things

that you have to do to reduce the risk of flooding. The one that is

being talked about is dredging, and dredging will increase the capacity

of the channel, but you have to do it every year. In recent weeks,

dredging has become such a hot topic that even the Prime Minister has

waded in. Whatever is required, whether it is

dredging work on the rivers, this government will help those families

and get that issue sorted. Other solutions, such as upgrading

the pumps and building a tidal barrage, have also been suggested.

But, would any of that have stopped this flood?

I don't think you could have stopped this flood from happening. You could

have mitigated it, to some extent, but we have had so much rainfall.

This thing will happen when you have this sort of rain.

Part of the problem on the Levels is that much of the land is lower than

the rivers passing through it, so what is the answer?

To find out, I have come to Holland, which has a very similar landscape.

Here, they have spent the last 1000 years learning how to hold back the

water, using huge river wards or dykes. In fact, it was Dutch

engineers who help to drain the Somerset Levels 350 years ago and

we've been using the same system ever since.

My first stop is Delft University, where leading flood expert Bas

Jonkman is testing the latest measures for emergency flood

protection, things that could really help on the Levels right now.

So what is going to happen here next?

What will happen is a big base will open the gates. Water will start to

flow then and we will put the hydraulic loads on those measures.

Hopefully those will stop the floods and keep that side dry.

Maybe we should put ourselves the other side of the barrier. I think

that is a good idea. It is really holding, isn't it?

Even if clever technology like this can help in the short term, I want

to know whether the old Dutch system of pumps and drains used on the

Levels is really the way forward. It has had two years of extremely

serious floods, they need some help. These systems can fail and you also

need to manage and maintain the systems well and also adapt them to

changes, changing rainfall patterns. You are never finished.

In 1995, unusually heavy rains overran the Dutch flood defences,

forcing the evacuation of 250,000 people, with millions more homes

under threat. What followed was a rethink of the whole philosophy for

flood protection. I've, come to south of Delft, where the dyke

protecting this land is about to be lowered, therefore increasing the

flood risk here. What you are talking about seems incredibly

bonkers. To start with, we still have our defence system of Dykes and

dredging. We will stay on do that. At the same time we find new

solutions for flood relief. People are finding a way to live with

nature and live together with the river. What is happening here

involves moving the dyke hundreds of metres back from the river. It is

part of a ?1.8 billion project called room for the river taking

place at 34 locations across Holland. Now when the river reaches

critical levels it has a new flood plain to flood onto but this has

meant evicting 200 homeowners and farmers. That was not initially

popular. This man was one of the farmers told that the dyke

protecting his farm would be removed. He did not take it well.

What did you think when you first heard that the government was

turning your land into a flood plane? `` plain. TRANSLATION: We

were shown a map which had this field as the flood plain. We decided

that we would get together as farmers to discuss what we were

going to do and we thought we could oppose this plan or we could find a

way to work together with the government for our own interest. He

and the other farmers persuaded the government to let them stay on their

land and to build their new farm buildings on six metre high minds.

`` mounds. Now, even if their land is flooded, the house and farm

buildings remain dry. Your land will eventually flood, how do you feel

about it? Does it worry you? The cows will be safe. The children and

my self have a life so we are safe. So let the watercome. Let the

watercome? Yes. So he is convinced but back on the levels I want to

know if room for the river or something like it is the answer. I

have just been to Holland and had a look at some of the things they are

doing there, do you think that good work here? They could apply here but

they have to be adapted to the local context and in discussion with the

local people. So, it is not an instant fix? No, but it is certainly

worth These systems can feel and you also need to manage and maintain

these systems well and also attempt the change in rainfall patterns.

Back with James and despite his determination, the floodwater has

one. `` won. I am catching up with him at the auction centre where

nearly 100 of his cattle are being sold. How have the last few weeks

been for you? It has been a roller`coaster. We had to get the

animals out when the water came up because they were going to drown.

What do you think of the system abroad, could that work? You could

look at it, it is a blank canvas really. What about having all of

your farm buildings, your silage and everything on a mind? It is not only

me, it do you raise them all down and think he'd be back? I wish I was

on an island now. The Prime Minister has been in touch with the Dutch

government to ask them for help but with more areas under threat across

the country, whatever they decide will come too late this time for

James and the rest of the communities rerun the levels. ``

here on the levels. Before this dramatic flooding our own reporter

visited the Somerset nature reserve that relies on seasonal flooding for

its very existence. Happily, it is a place where man can control water

levels for the benefit of some very rare wildlife. This nature reserve

on the Somerset levels is the wet life even. At the moment, the

emphasis is on the word wet. Just in the shadow of last three tour it is

home to hundreds of waders and wildfowl. Some of them are

threatened. This was once intensively managed farmland, for

many years it was drained and ploughed. Now the fields are allowed

to flood. It is often just in time for the breeding season. All you

need is a couple of minutes in the hide or in one of the blinds at the

water 's edge to see how special and magical best place can be. I do not

think there is any where else in the south`west you can see this number

of birds so close. The birds are really utilising all the different

types of habitat and the different food sources. This bird upended

itself in the search for every last bit of nutrient. The Drake is

dabbling. It's beak is vibrating across the surfaces to filter out

small plants and animals. These docs are wintering on the levels as well

and it is using its large unmistakable bill to sift through

the water, this species is under threat so places like this are

vital. Open stretches of water like this are obviously very important as

the feeding place but they also provide some security from

ground`based predators. While I feared they county care of their

plumage which is also important. These ducks are keeping their

feathers in tiptop condition and when you get close you can get a

really good view of the wormlike patters on them. Their distinctive

call rings out throughout the day. Lapwing abound, look at this

beautiful bird with the iridescent bottle green sheen. Once a common

West Country side, they are now a registered bird under severe

conservation threat with leading numbers in massive decline. The

dramatic floods this year and last on the levels have had a big effect

sadly on farms south of year but also some of the breeding birds.

This flooding is a double`edged sword. At the moment it is good, it

is good for them and they are enjoying it but if it continues into

the spring it limits the number of places the birds can live and the

animals they feed on food drown. There is another problem, this

planned, Rush, too much of it favours the approaching predators

like foxes. They have worked out about 10% cover is just right. If

you look at the number of birds around you might think all is well

here but the latest figures suggest is birds are having a tough time.

Reading numbers were down last year on the site. `` breeding numbers. It

is all about water management year. On one side of the lake the trust

have got and recreated a traditional habitat. There used to be a lot more

of this open water ditch and weed bed but now it is more rare because

over the centuries these were drained. We literally had to drain

all the water out of the site, remove the a lot of the vegetation,

we had to rebuild and destabilise the whole system. The banks were

gone, they were degraded, making and crumbling. We have had to secure

this. While we had to go to such extreme lengths we also built

islands, opened up channels, we level the land to a variety of

heights to suit a watch of species. Over 12 months you can see how well

this is recovering. We have had Marsh Harriers, great white egrets,

a huge array of duck species. It is just bursting into a life so quickly

after we are finished. And it is not just about the birds. These read

heads are covered in gossamer threads spun by spiders. The ride up

drafts on them which allows them to travel vast distances, even along

continents. This spider crawls down and climbs up repeatedly on a piece

of web ready for the off. All of these invertebrates are great news

for this stone chat and it is an luck with the caterpillar in its

beak. A great find for this time of year. The ditches on the fen are

already filling up with with June, these are roosting and having a

great splash around. Then he Marsh Harrier appears, a beautiful sleek

Keller on the prowl for small birds. The few Lapwing around have got a

way of dealing with this unwelcome intruder, the mob it.

But it is a different type of Lapwing behaviour that makes up the

climax to my visit. I am off back to the mainland. Now this is a great

spot to witness what has become a little bit of a local phenomenon.

You can witness it over and over again all day long. Absolutely

breathtaking. Every so often a vast flock of Lapwing take to the skies.

Like the Starling that circle over the moors, the form ever`changing

shapes in the sky. This could be a way of avoiding or confusing

predators or it may just be a thing they do together as a species for

social cohesion. Whatever the reason, it is hip knotting. ``

hypnotic. In essence, what you have got here is a flooded field and it

is easy given the amount of rain and flooding we have had over this

winter to take this sort of scene for granted but several centuries

ago this hall of the Somerset levels would have been underwater for the

role of the winter period now thanks to the activities of human beings

and the draining of the landscape, things like this are incredibly

rare. That is bad news for many of the birds we having joined and

filmed here. `` enjoyed. Without places like this red listed birds

like the Marsh Harrier and Lapwing will face a losing battle against a

much stronger enemy, the all`powerful hand of man. That is

all from the programme this week, we are back next Monday. See you then.

Hello, I'm Sam Naz with your 90 second update.

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