The conservation of wildlife is an area in which the Police Service of Northern Ireland play an investigative and enforcement role, identifying clear links to wildlife crime and any unlawful activity associated with endangering wild animals.

Baiting involves deliberately setting up fights between hunting dogs and wild animals like foxes and badgers.

A man then ran off from the police in a tractor and smashed into three police cars causing significant damage to the vehicles but no injury to the officers. The man was later apprehended and arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in custody.

Speaking about the recovery, PCSP Chairperson, Councillor Adrian McQuillan said: “The PCSP is delighted by the success of the pilot rural tracker scheme, which has helped to ensure the recovery of valuable stolen equipment.

Police are appealing for information following the theft of a 2005 Red Massey Ferguson agricultural tractor along the Poyntzpass Road area of Loughbrickland.

Police in Mid and East Antrim are continuing to investigate an increase in burglaries in recent months, particularly within rural parts of Ballymena.

A Northern Irish farmer has been ordered to pay out £10,000 after slurry polluted a river resulting in the death of over 2,600 fish.

Northern Ireland Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Edwin Poots has launched a new campaign to combat puppy smuggling.

A Northern Irish farmer has been ordered to pay out nearly £3,000 following a pollution incident that killed fish.

Baby goats were found malnourished, freezing cold and starving in a ditch and on a rural lane outside Dromara in Co Down, the USPCA have revealed.

NI farm minister Edwin Poots has given the go-ahead for badger culling and additional cattle measures as part of renewed efforts to eradicate bovine TB in the province.

Rural crime has been an issue for many years, with serious and sometimes violent incidents leaving people to question if communities living in remote areas of Ireland are being properly protected by authorities.

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) are asking farmers, land managers and the public for their help during the current dry weather spell.

"Together with our colleagues in the PSNI we are committed to taking a joint approach to protect and reassure communities on both sides of the border.

Poultrykeepers in Northern Ireland have been warned to increase vigilance after avian influenza was confirmed in the province for the first time since early December.