Animal Investigators: How the World's First Wildlife Forensics Lab Is Solving Crimes and Saving Endangered Species Hardcover - 2009

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.

Details

• Title Animal Investigators: How the World's First Wildlife Forensics Lab Is Solving Crimes and Saving Endangered Species
• Author Laurel A. Neme; Foreword by Richard Leakey
• Binding Hardcover
• Edition First Edition
• Pages 230
• Volumes 1
• Language ENG
• Publisher Scribner Book Company, New York
• Date 2009-04-07
• Illustrated Yes
• ISBN 9781416550563 / 1416550569
• Weight 0.9 lbs (0.41 kg)
• Dimensions 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1 in (23.11 x 15.75 x 2.79 cm)
• Library of Congress subjects Forensic sciences - United States, Wildlife crime investigation - United States
• Library of Congress Catalog Number 2008056004
• Dewey Decimal Code 363.259

"Think CSI: Wilderness. Laurel Neme's book gives us a new set of heroes, in the labs of the Fish and Wildlife Service, and reminds us of one of the uglier set of villains on the planet, the traffickers in wildlife." -- William McKibben, author of Deep Economy and The End of Nature