Science and Sleuthing: Improving CITES Enforcement Through Innovations in Wildlife Forensic Technology

• Date: 01 July 2017

47 ELR 10580 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER 7-2017

Science and Sleuthing:

Improving CITES Enforcement

Through Innovations in Wildlife

Forensic Technology

by Victoria Bogdan Tejeda

Victoria Bogdan Tejeda graduated from the University of California Davis School of Law in 2017 with

a concentration in environmental law. Prior to law school, she consulted for environmental nonprot

organizations and co-founded the citizen science and technology group Nerds for Nature.









—John Scanlon1

In 1892, detective Sherlock Holmes examined evidence

of “poison fangs” in a homicide investigation.2 is was

one of the rst instances of wildlife evidence and scien-

tic analysis being used in ction.3 e character’s creator,

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, continued in subsequent novels

to advocate for applying early forms of forensic science to

legal matters.4 He wrote about detectives analyzing blood

residue, ngerprints, and handwriting.5 Shortly thereafter,

Dr. Edmond Locard, a real-life pioneer in the eld, became

known as the “Sherlock Holmes of France.”6

Forensic science has grown substantially since that time.

Now, the multidisciplinary practice—encompassing DNA

mapping, spectrometer analysis, toxicology, and radiocar-

bon dating, among other techniques—is widely used by

1. Statement by John Scanlon, Secretary-General, CITES to 79th Interpol

General Assembly (Nov. 8, 2010), https://cites.org/eng/news/sg/2010/

SG_statement_interpol_doha.php.

2. Video: Wildlife Forensics—An Evolving Tool for Combating Wildlife

Crime (World Wildlife Fund 2012) [hereinafter Wildlife Forensics—

An Evolving Tool] (quoting S A C D, T

A   S B (1892)), https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=Wu9fSMiAs6c.

3. Id.

4. James O’Brien, Encyclodpaedia Britannica, Sherlock Holmes: Pioneer in

Forensic Science, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sherlock-Holmes-

Pioneer-in-Forensic-Science-1976713 (last updated Mar. 31, 2014).

5. Id.

6. e Forensics Library, Edmond Locard, http://aboutforensics.co.uk/

edmond-locard/ (last visited May 12, 2017).

law enforcement and accepted in courts.7 e United States

set up its rst forensic crime laboratory in 1932.8 Adapting

the science for use on wildlife crimes only came about more

recently.9 e United States’ rst wildlife forensic labora-

tory opened in 1989.10

Wildlife forensic science grew, in part, out of aware-

ness that extinction loomed for thousands of plants and

animals.11 New laws, such as the Endangered Species Act

(ESA) of 1973,12 led scientists working in traditional foren-

sic labs to investigate injuries and killings of animals.13

Alarm over species depletion grew around the globe

as well. In 1975, 80 countries entered into the Conven-

tion on International Trade in Endangered Species of

7. U N O  D  C, A R  W

F S  L C  S 

I  E  CITES 2 (2016) [hereinafter

UNODC C R], available at https://cites.org/sites/default/

les/eng/cop/17/WorkingDocs/E-CoP17-25-A4.pdf.

8. Stephanie Watson, How Stu Works Science, How Forensic Lab Techniques

, http://science.howstuworks.com/forensic-lab-

technique1.htm (last visited May 12, 2017).

9. Michele Berger, 

Detectives, W C, Feb. 6, 2015, http://stories.weather.com/

animalforensics; U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory, Science

, https://www.fws.gov/lab/scientists.php (last updated Aug. 30,

2012). While “wildlife” generally connotes animals, when used in forensic

science, it encompasses plants as well.

10. J E. H  J R. W, W F: M

 A 45 (1st ed. 2012).

11. Wildlife Forensics—An Evolving Tool, supra note 2.

12. 16 U.S.C. §§1531-1544; ELR S. ESA §§2-18.

13. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Oce of Law Enforcement, 

Historical Background, https://www.fws.gov/le/history.html (last updated

Feb. 14, 2013). e United States hired its rst biological technician to

inspect wildlife shipments in 1975. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Oce of

Law Enforcement, , https://www.fws.

gov/le/history-1951-1975.html (last updated Feb. 14, 2013).

Copyright © 2017 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.