Wildlife Forensics in Criminal Investigations

Abstract

Every little animal within an ecosystem has a vital role in the well-being of the planet. If one species is rendered extinct due to some imbalance then it can have significant catastropic effects throughout the rest of the chain. Many national and international laws are been established to control wildlife crimes like hunting, poaching, animal smuggling, animal abuse, illegal trade etc. When such crimes occur, it is difficult to establish the cause and the mode by which crime was carried out, the role of wildlife forensics comes into play. Wildlife forensics is a branch of forensic science that deals with identification & comparison of human and nonhuman evidences, punishment to the offender by integrating all principles and techniques from various other disciplines which includes criminalistics, pathology, morphology, chemistry and molecular biology. In order to determine the legality of a case, wildlife investigators have to answer three questions: