Wildlife Forensics
Definition
The application of forensic science methods to the investigation of crimes involving animals, plants, and their derivatives, including species identification, geographic origin, and cause of death.
- Field type
- Applied forensic science sub-discipline
- Typical evidence
- Animals, plants, and their derivatives
- Core questions
- Species identification, geographic origin, cause of death
- Common casework
- Poaching, trafficking, illegal trade investigations
Common questions
How does wildlife forensics differ from conventional veterinary pathology?+
Veterinary pathology focuses on animal health and disease for clinical purposes, while wildlife forensics is oriented toward legal proceedings, requiring chain-of-custody handling, species and origin determination admissible in court, and links to specific offences.
What techniques does species identification in wildlife forensics rely on?+
It draws on DNA barcoding and species-specific genetic markers, morphological and microscopic comparison of tissue or hair, and isotope or trace analysis to infer geographic origin, often combining several methods on a single sample.
Why is geographic origin analysis often as important as species identification?+
Many wildlife products are legal from farmed or captive-bred sources but illegal when taken from the wild, so pinpointing origin can determine whether a seizure is lawful trade or a poaching offence.
Related terms
- INTERPOL Project Wisdom
- INTERPOL's dedicated operational programme targeting environmental and wildlife crime, coordinating intelligence and joint operations across its 190-plus member countries.
- Species Identification
- The determination that a seized specimen or product came from a particular species, genus, or family, using morphology, DNA barcoding, protein analysis,...
- TRACE Wildlife Forensics Network
- A UK-based NGO providing forensic identification services, training, and research for wildlife crime cases across Europe and beyond, founded in 2002.
- US NFWFL
- The National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Oregon, established in 1989 by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The world's...
- WCCB
- Wildlife Crime Control Bureau. Statutory multi-disciplinary body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), created by the 2006 amendment...