Animal Investigators: How the World's First Wildlife Forensics Lab Is Solving Crimes and Saving Endangered Species

by Laurel A. Neme

Inside the Clark R. Bavin U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory lies a rarely seen world, a CSI for wildlife, where a walk-in freezer contains carcasses and animal parts awaiting necropsies (animal autopsies); shelves and drawers hold pills, rugs, carvings, and countless other products made from parts of endangered animals; and a dedicated group of forensic scientists is responsible for victims from thirty thousand animal species.

Accomplished environmental journalist Laurel A. Neme goes behind the scenes at the wildlife forensics lab -- the only crime lab of its kind -- to reveal how its forensic scientists and the agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are working to investigate wildlife crimes, protect endangered species, and stem illegal wildlife trafficking, the third largest illegal trade in the world.

In three fascinating cases -- headless walrus washed up on the shores of Alaska, black bears killed for the healing powers of their gallbladders, and gorgeous feathered headdresses secretly shipped to the United States from the Amazon -- Neme traces the USFWS's daring undercover investigations and how the scientists' innovative forensic techniques provide conclusive evidence of a crime. Throughout, she underscores the staggering international scope of the supply and demand for wildlife and animal parts.

Filled with the suspense and thrilling detail of a crime novel yet driven by the all-too-real drama of a small band of scientists and investigators battling a lucrative, high-stakes underground industry, Animal Investigators is an engrossing account of crime and cutting-edge science.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Science, Nature, Crime, Wildlife, Conservation

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really expected this to be a different book than it turned out to be. One of our zoo pathologists is leaving to go work at the FWS Wildlife Forensics lab in Oregon. She's awesome, and I'd heard wonderfully interesting things about the lab itself. I picked up this book hoping to get an overview of the lab, perhaps some its history and highlights.

Instead, this book is a very detailed look at three very specific cases the lab has handled: walrus tusks, black bear gallbladders and bird feathers. And when I say detailed, that's exactly what I mean. Every in and out, discovery, and false turn in each investigation is recorded in what almost sounds like a scholarly presentation. As there are even footnotes, perhaps this is what the book was meant to be, and I was misled by my own expectations. Because of the level of detail, I found it a bit excruciating to read, and caught myself skimming more than once.

I would recommend this if you are interested in the detailed process and methods of animal forensics, especially in these three areas, but not if you were looking for the story of the field, and an overview of the lab, history, cases, and issues.

Laurel Neme herself, however, has a pretty cool website, if you're interested.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a brilliantly structured book looking at the work of the Wildlife Forensics Lab in Ashland, Oregon. It uses three specific case studies to explore different facets of wildlife law and related crimes (illegal hunting and Indigenous hunting rights, trade for traditional Chinese medicine, and trade in animal parts as cultural objects), and the many services the lab provides that supported each case from necropsy and gross anatomy to molecular analysis to species identification from specimens. Each case study is a complete narrative that places the lab's work in the full context of the global wildlife issues and the surrounding undercover investigations and legal proceedings. This must have taken an extraordinary amount of work to compile and write. It goes into a LOT of detail for each case. While I would have expected this to be mind-numbing, it was actually fascinating and I am so glad the author decided to approach it this way. I'd highly recommend it to any of the more geeky animal people who really want to dive into what goes into investigating and prosecuting wildlife crime.

[David R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty eye-opening. Well-told stories of a despicable "business."

[Katelyn Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

it had very interesting topics but it was very dry and took me forever to get through!

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
A book about a wildlife forensics laboratory? Sing me in! Unfortunately, little has been said about the laboratory itself. What I expected to find was its day-to-day life and the type of cases it works on. However, what I have found are three cases of trafficking of endangered species in which the laboratory intervened at some point in the investigation. It has seemed to me that his presence has remained in the background throughout the book and this has disappointed me a lot. The cases themselves develop all the research carried out from start to finish.
A fact that surprised me a lot is the end of each case. I expected that, in the case of the United States, the punishment would be considerably higher for this type of crime. However, they are very similar to those that can be found in Spanish legislation. And this has made me think long and hard about the place we give to the environment in our lives. Our future as a species depends on ecological balance, and yet we punish great harm to it with just a few months in prison and a small fine (just a fraction of what the profits might be). There is no re-education and the benefits far outweigh the losses, so there is no impediment to continue committing this type of crime.
It is difficult for me to evaluate the book because, although I have not found in it what I expected, when I finished it it has left me with feelings of rage and impotence and has made me reflect on a subject that I do not give the importance that I should. Likewise, the language was sometimes very dry and academic, emphasizing things that for me as a reader (and not as a researcher) did not contribute much or continually repeated things that had already been said but in another way.
I keep what it has taught me and everything that has made me reflect, as well as this sentence with which it concludes: “the victims of wildlife crimes are silent, but the wildlife forensics lab gives them a voice - one that grows stronger every day. Yet it’s up to us to sustain their ability to speak”

[Anna Engel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ever wondered how endangered and protected species are protected in a practical way? Or how mammoth and elephant ivory can be differentiated? I find the whole idea of animal forensic science intriguing. Forensic science for humans has been under development for decades, but the challenge there is proving that a single individual did a thing and left certain evidence behind. In animal forensics, you need to figure out the species first, which is far more complicated than it seems. And how do you prove a crime occurred when one party obviously can't talk?

This is an in-depth look at how forensic science has developed over time and how it has been applied in three case studies. The author, however, got mired in the details. Dates and names and the minutiae of each case make this book something of a slog. Additional editorial work would have solved a lot of the book's issues--repetition, an excess of acronyms, long-windedness.

Also, readers and bystanders beware. Some photos are NSFW, especially on public transportation.

[Lizzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A topic I’m interested in, but the book is repetitive and surprisingly over-detailed. Some of the descriptions of the chemistry experiments done on bear bile seemed too descriptive, for example. It’s a bit of a slog to read, although not challenging. However, I learned some cool things and the case examples are well-researched. It was incredible to see all the effort that goes into these cases. I think it would have been cool to learn more about the diversity and breadth of cases seen at the lab, and this was laser-focused on the three case examples (walrus ivory, South American bird feathers, bear gallbladders).

[Comfort Me With Nature · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtfully constructed and filled with detail, this book reviews several cases of illegal wildlife trafficking. Each section proceeds like a mystery story where a crime is identified, evidence is presented and the perpetrators are arrested and tried. Yet each incidence of animal taking is not always a clear case of criminal activity. The author provides the context of indigenous populations and the importance of their ritual and cultural rights. Complex and compelling, this book is well worth reading.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent primer on wildlife trade and forensics

Written in 2008, this may now provide more of a historical perspective on wildlife trade issues and cases, but sadly the overall motivations for wildlife trade and precipitation --- human greed --- remain the same. Hopefully, attitudes will continue to change, and laws and regulations with them.

[EstelleLiterature · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since this book was published in 2009, the investigation techniques have taken larger leaps using genetic imprints and other biotechnology tools, but this book neverthless gives you an excellent introduction to wildlife-crime investigation methods, mostly in the North American setting. For the same in the tropical parts of the world, the wildlife institute's website in North India is excellent.

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I learned some interesting things reading this book - about walrus and Alaskan peoples, about bear gall bladders and about exotic Amazonian feathers. The book was difficult to read, bogged down in details with a very dry style.

[Tove R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely love the work they do and people should be more aware of these issues. The book is great for people like me who knows about this subject and are interested in it with all the legal issue. Don‘t know how interesting the book is for someone just randomly interested in this. 3 cases are presented; walruses in Alaska, beers in US/Canada/China and birds in Brazil. All killed and traded illegally by evil humans.

[Shawn Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this read. Interesting to learn about an emerging field and specific cases.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

"MacGyver" was one of my favorite shows while I was growing up. I watched reruns every evening on the USA network and tuned in to the new episodes on Monday nights. I loved the show so much, in fact, that when I got a dog in eighth grade, I named him MacGyver.

But there was one episode that I refused to watch: "Black Rhino." From commercials for it, I knew it was about poaching, the killing of rhinoceroses for their ivory horns. I couldn't bear to watch even the fictitious murder of an innocent, unsuspecting animal, even if MacGyver did catch the bad guys at the end.

After going veg a few years ago, however, I realized that ignorance is not bliss, that ignoring a problem wouldn't make it go away. Awareness and outspokenness are key to solving the problems that plague our society.

That sentiment is stated early on in the new book "Animal Investigators: How the World's Wildlife Forensics Lab Is Solving Crimes and Saving Endangered Species" by Laurel A. Neme, Ph.D.

In the foreward by Richard Leakey, a renowned paleontologist and conservationist, he writes that illegal wildlife trafficking "cannot be stemmed without both greater investment in enforcement and increased awareness." He goes on to say, "It is my hope that the telling of [wildlife enforcement officers':] fascinating stories will help generate the public support necessary to expand both their efforts and the work of their colleagues and allies around the world."

Indeed "Animal Investigators" tells three distinct stories about wildlife killings and smuggling, with one of the common threads the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, OR. The "Scotland Yard of wildlife crime," it opened in 1989 and is like a "CSI" for murdered animals.

The three stories focus on walrus in Alaska, bear bile in Canada and the United States and tropical birds from Brazil.

To be sure, this is not an animal-rights book. While Neme and the officials with the forensics lab take poaching seriously -- with the lab officials devoting their lives to fighting it -- they look at the killing of animals from a conservation/extinction perspective, not from a view that each individual animal -- regardless of endangered status -- has a right to live.

Although one statement in the book comes close to animal-rights philosophy and could be applied to all animals.

When consumers and sellers value animals only for the products they can provide, wildlife will continue to be exploited and possibly endangered.

Nevertheless this is an important book and one worth reading. I liked how Neme characterized the murdered animals as "victims," just as police do with murdered people.

The lab handles over 30,000 species of victims, which makes a regular police lab, with a mere one species to worry about, look like a vacation spot.

One of the most difficult aspects of the investigation is determining which species has been killed. This issue is especially true when investigators only have part of the victim -- a tusk, a belt or medication made from some part of the animal.

It's also interesting to shadow lab scientists as they work through the scientific method and the chain of custody of evidence. Their work is so methodical that sometimes I wished they'd make assumptions and skip a few steps to save time. However, doing so would only hurt the animals in the long run, with courts not allowing testimony from the scientists if mistakes are consistently made.

Unfortunately the weak punishment for wildlife murders and smuggling encourages the crimes to continue. If these people were murdering people instead of walrus, bears or birds, they'd be considered serial killers. Instead of blaming the slaughter on psychopathology, we blame it on greed. And capitalism honors greed. So instead of being sentenced to decades in prison, they get a slap on the wrist.

In the United States, a 1994 study on the FWS wildlife inspection program by the General Accounting Office (GAO) noted that only a quarter of violators of the Endangered Species Act received any penalty, with a far lower percentage sentenced to probation or prison. Even repeat offenders rarely received substantial fines or jail time.

As Neme writes, "The victims of wildlife crimes are silent, but the wildlife forensics lab gives them a voice--one that grows stronger every day. Yet it's up to us to sustain their ability to speak."

Maybe now it's time I watched that episode of "MacGyver."

You can find "Animal Investigators" (Scribner, 2009) at any bookstore, including online at Better World Books, where a portion of the proceeds funds literacy projects worldwide.

[David Corleto-Bales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book about forensic investigators who work in identification of endangered species for law enforcement and the U.S. and Canadian fish and wildlife services in three major investigations concerning, 1) the illegal killing of walrus in remote parts of Alaska strictly for their ivory, 2) the illegal killing of black bears for their gallbladders, (used in Oriental medicine) and 3) parts of endangered birds and migratory birds, such as feathers and other Amazonian animals like jaguars. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's forensic laboratory is on the campus of Southern Oregon University in Ashland. It was really amazing how they determine the difference between, say, an illegally taken walrus (just for ivory) and one that was shot by indigenous people for subsistence meat. Highly recommended!

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtfully constructed and filled with detail, this book reviews several cases of illegal wildlife trafficking. Each section proceeds like a mystery story where a crime is identified, evidence is presented and the perpetrators are arrested and tried. Yet each incidence of animal taking is not always a clear case of criminal activity. The author provides the context of indigenous populations and the importance of their ritual and cultural rights. Complex and compelling, this book is well worth reading.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting account of what goes into forensic investigations in wildlife crimes. Neme does a good job of describing the processes employed and explaining their purposes. The writing is a tad repetative at times (if you had a dollar for every time the author describes the difference between elephant and mammoth ivory, you could buy another copy of the book) but overall the writing is well done. I recommend it for anyone interested in nature or interested in forensics and law enforcement.

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The usefulness of this book is found more in its conciseness and breadth as an overview than as an in-depth exploration of animal trafficking and the fight against it. Some of this material will be familiar, but the reminder is welcome. The problem is out there but so is the will to fight it.

Regrettably, the actual lab procedures aren't explained in any great detail. That's disappointing, since that was the book's titular intention. This was a good starting point but not much more.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorite parts were the descriptions of the lab's work & the process of figuring out the science, not so much the thriller/investigative part. A little uneven in the writing-one moment it's general and sweeping and the next it is very detailed and a specific time. Also a little redundant. Great stories/cases. And nice to have the introduction about the lab, the descriptions of the laws, and the footnotes. The Lab comes off as very impressive!

[Stuart Lutzenhiser · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book showing the creation of the first US forensics lab for animal related crimes. The author is a former scientist at the facility in Oregon who writes of three different cases. One, a walrus hunting crime in Alaska, then a Bear gall bladder hunting crime and a rare bird species in Brazil. Very technical at time and quite graphic, but very interesting and educational.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

the different cases were nice but there was two much other information that was not need in the different stories that cause confusion when reading. the book covers a few cases that the wildlife forensics lad encounters and follows a first person account of the cases.

[Rachel Bayles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating science and stories about a little known part of the fight against environmental crime.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. Given the level of animal exploitation, it makes you wonder if man will soon be the only "animal" on the planet.