This week’s book is “Animal Investigators: How the World’s First Wildlife Forensics Lab is Solving Crimes and Saving Endangered Species” by Dr. Laurel Neme.
Book Summary: Animal Investigators is a groundbreaking, behind-the-scenes study of how forensic scientists are helping protect endangered species by using science to solve illegal wildlife trafficking crimes. In three real life endangered species court cases, the author takes readers on an extraordinary underground journey into organized crime and explores the underlying economic forces driving the world’s third largest illegal market.
Why this book is important: Animal Investigators illuminates the “unsung heroes” of the wildlife crime world: Scientists and investigative agents who work tirelessly in anonymity to convict illegal wildlife traffickers and dealers of their crimes against the environment. The book raises awareness of the enormous scope of the illegal wildlife trade – which is responsible for the destruction and plundering of the world’s endangered species.
Quotable moment:
Recent DNA analysis of massive illegal elephant ivory shipments (6.5 tons seized in Singapore in 2001 and 3.9 tons confiscated in Hong Kong in 2006), conducted by a team headed by Dr. Samuel Wasser, director of the Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington (with help from the lab), showed that the ivory came from closely related elephants from specific localities (eastern Zambia for the Singapore seizure and a small section of eastern Gabon and neighboring Congo for the Hong Kong one).
The results showed that, rather than collecting ivory from disparate sources as was previously thought, organized gangs filled “purchase orders” by targeting whole herds at particular sites. That information will help antipoaching units center their patrols on precise geographic areas and allow agents to monitor little-known but well-worn smuggling routes.
Learn more about ‘Animal Investigators’
Learn more about Animal Investigators: How the World’s First Wildlife Forensics Lab is Solving Crimes and Saving Endangered Species and purchase the book at laurelneme.com
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