Now readers can go behind the scenes at the world’s only forensics lab dedicated exclusively to solving animal cases in this gripping “CSI for wildlife.”

 
Illegal wildlife smuggling ranks just behind drugs and human trafficking as the third largest illegal trade—and only an estimated 10 percent of its trafficking is intercepted. Now, with unprecedented access to U.S. Fish and Wildlife agents, law enforcement, and more, accomplished environmental journalist Laurel Neme uncovers how forensic scientists are working to change that.

Taking readers into the only animal crime lab, set up to investigate more than 30,000 species, Neme shows the incredible efforts of lab experts as they investigate cases in which illegal trade is threatening endangered tropical birds, poached for their feathers; black bears, whose gallbladders are used in traditional Chinese medicine; and the Alaskan walrus, slaughtered for ivory.  Vividly depicting the circumstances of each case, the people and animals involved, and providing intricate details of the scientific methodology used, Neme combines mystery, science, and wildlife conservation in an absorbing, fast-paced account that exposes the cutthroat, complicated web of wildlife crimes and recognizes the innovative, hardworking animal investigators who are fighting to solve them.