Wildlife forensic science

Article By:

Martineau, Daniel College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada.

Last reviewed:2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB040140

Wildlife is often killed because it is considered a nuisance. For example, strychnine has been used illegally to eliminate top predators such as wolves and coyotes, killing birds of prey feeding on contaminated carcasses. The hunting of wolves and seals has been supported by government bounties and subsidies. At one time (between World Wars I and II) the Canadian government even used bombs to eradicate beluga whales, which eat economically valuable cod. Laws have been enacted to restrict such abuses, and wildlife forensic pathologists, like their medical counterparts, aim to link the crime scene, suspect, and “victim.” To achieve this goal, they identify carcasses, document ballistic evidence or trauma, and detect poisons in carcasses. Over the last decades, illegal trading of wildlife products ($3.4 billion a year worldwide, the second largest type of illegal commerce after drug trafficking) and large-scale environmental contamination by industrial products and by-products have confronted wildlife forensic scientists with new challenges.

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