Posts Tagged ‘wildlife Forensics’
Mongabay.com: Wildlife forensics unmask poachers and traffickers
Mongabay WildTech 10th July 2015 / Laurel Neme When border agents seize two tons of smuggled ivory, how do they tell where it’s from? When meat on sale in Southeast Asia is suspected to be from a tiger, how can the police prove it? And when blood in a hunter’s truck is thought to come from a poached…
Read MoreTrafficking Jam: In Wildlife CSI, Scientists Become Nature’s Detectives (Weather.com)
First posted on 2015-05-01 Fantastic article by Michele Berger, Science Editor for Weather.com that explores the field of wildlife forensics. For complete article with photos, please see: http://stories.weather.com/animalforensics. In it, you’ll meet many of the folks that have appeared in my articles, podcast and books. Bravo to Ms. Berger for a great and comprehensive article! …
Read MoreNational Wildlife Forensic Lab Director interviewed on Here & Now
Want to hear what it’s like at the National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory? Listen to the lab’s director, Ken Goddard, talk about his work with Here & Now’s Robin Young. Go to this link: http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2014/11/04/animal-forensics-lab
Read MoreKenya Wildlife Service forensics lab a step closer to opening
Kenya Wildlife Service forensics lab is a step closer to opening. Much is promised but challenges remain. Article in Kenya’s The Star reviews progress. See: http://allafrica.com/stories/201410131052.html 13 October 2014 Kenya: KWS Plans Sh100 Million DNA Lab to Catch Poachers By Gilbert Koech CONVICTION rates for crimes arising from handling of wildlife trophies will soon rise…
Read MoreToday show visits USFWS Lab
On September 19, 2014, the Today show aired a segment on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wildlife Forensics Lab. The segment is called Fowl play? Scientists investigate wildlife crime in secret Oregon lab. It takes you inside the high-tech crime lab where investigators use forensics to solve cases — in which the victims are…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Good News for Animals in Nepal: A Full Year Without Poaching
Bucking the worldwide trend, Nepal continues its successful fight against poaching. Laurel Neme for National Geographic Published March 12, 2014 On World Wildlife Day, March 3, Nepal celebrated 365 days with zero poaching. No rhinos, tigers, or elephants were killed. It’s the second year of such success in Nepal. In 2011 the country also had…
Read MoreNational Geographic: A Powerful Weapon Against Ivory Smugglers: DNA Testing
Posted by Laurel Neme in A Voice for Elephants on May 23, 2013 Hong Kong Customs seized 113 ivory tusks in a cargo shipment at Hong Kong International Airport on April 30 this year. Officers detected the ivory when they X-rayed a consignment labeled “spare parts” being shipped from Burundi, Africa to Singapore via Hong Kong. DNA analysis…
Read MoreThe WildLife: Carbofuran impacts and forensic considerations, Ngaio Richards
Carbofuran was developed in the 1960s to replace more persistent pesticides such as DDT. Since then it has repeatedly been implicated in the mass mortality of nontarget wildlife, especially avian species. Conservationists worldwide have sought to regulate or ban the use of carbofuran for decades. However, this controversial product remains registered for use in…
Read MoreThe WildLife: Rhino DNA Index System & Role in Anti-Poaching Efforts, Cindy Harper
The Rhino DNA Index System (RhODIS) is a secure database containing DNA profile data of individual rhinoceros. The extraction method has been optimized and is now used to individually identify rhinoceros horns from stockpiles and to link recovered horns to poaching cases. The information contained in this database has assisted in a number of…
Read MoreNew wildlife forensics lab to be commissioned in Kenya to fight wildlife poaching and crime.
Great news! On Monday (13 August, 2012) the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) will commission the construction of $700,000 wildlife forensic and genetics laboratory at its headquarters in Nairobi. This new lab will be able to provide legal evidence necessary in courts to convict suspects for wildlife crimes. It will help not only to link…
Read MoreStandards for Wildlife Forensics
When the 2009 National Academy of Sciences report, Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward, criticized the scientific reliability of certain forensic techniques, such as fingerprint analysis, that is commonly used to fight human crime, wildlife forensic scientists feared the findings might also undercut their testimony in courts of law. In response,…
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