WILD LIFE

WILDLIFE FORENSICS: CURRENT INVESTIGATION TECHNIQUES & LAWS IN INDIA

March 19, 2024

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WILDLIFE FORENSICS: CURRENT INVESTIGATION TECHNIQUES & LAWS IN INDIA

Wildlife forensics is the application of science to legal cases involving wildlife. This field uses scientific procedures to investigate wildlife-related crimes, including the exotic pet trade, poaching, other illegal hunting activities, and even oil spills.

Wildlife crime is a current global problem due to the illegal trade of wildlife flora, fauna, and products all over the country. It also includes owning derivatives of flora and fauna without valid authorization.

Wildlife forensics is a new field of a criminal investigation. Wildlife forensics use scientific procedures to examine, compare evidence from crime scenes, identify, link the evidence/, especially in an animal. The most serious crime investigation by wildlife forensic scientists is poaching. Poaching is the killing of wild animals that are protected from hunting by-laws. The wildlife includes undomesticated and diverse sorts of floral and faunal species, which is important for ecological balance and human survival. The poaching and illegal trade have resulted in a sharp decline in the many wild species of flora and fauna around the world. The need of the time, therefore, is to utterly specialize in wildlife protection for the sustainable development of the biosphere and future viability of human beings during this review we have focused on different techniques being utilized in wildlife forensic science for the identification of wildlife species. These techniques are often employed to regulate the wildlife crimes the criminals involved in the illegal trade of wildlife flora, fauna, and their products. These techniques include morphological, anatomical, footprints analysis/, etc. the article mainly deals with techniques and limitations of wildlife forensics.

Introduction

The wildlife deals with undomesticated animal species include all plants, fungi, and other organisms that grow without being introduced by humans or live wild in any area. As per the wildlife protection act, 1972 “wildlife” includes any aquatics, animals which form part of any habitat. Forensics is the collection, preserving, analyzing, and reporting of evidence for the application of science in the criminal investigation. Wildlife crimes can occur in many forms that can be in the form of illegal keeping of wildlife, damaging the health of wildlife, killing of wildlife by inappropriate means, or under unlawful conditions. According to the world economic forum, the fourth most global crime is illegal wildlife trafficking after drugs, arms, and humans. And even the illegal killing of the wildlife and trafficking of the products is a big business with an estimated value of $23 billion as per the world economic forum. the wildlife forensic is the part of forensic biology which is concerned with the use of technology such as molecular biology as DNA profiling to fight against wildlife crime.

Organizations/ persons involved in suspected wildlife crime cases are

Prosecutors – the prosecutors will gather or review all the information; the prosecutors will decide to press a charge or drop the case. In the pre-trial criminal investigations, the prosecutors will lead and decide.

Law enforcement officers/ investigators – the law enforcement officers will be initiating the investigations at the crime site and filing the cases to be presented to the prosecutors.

Stakeholders – hunting agencies, state wildlife management agencies, national park authorities, and various NGOs are involved in suspected wildlife crimes with an interest in wildlife conservation to harm the wildlife.

Veterinary authorities – the veterinary authority is responsible for the surveillance and control of animal diseases, animal welfare, animal safety, food production safety. the veterinary authorities are governed by government services. The veterinary authority will show the interest in control to stop the hunting of the animals, illegal killing of wildlife, etc.

Laboratories scientist – scientist as biologists, toxicologists, veterinarians, etc. they are expert in the wildlife crime investigation. It is their objective to stay unbiased when they are reporting or doing an investigation or being a witness on a case.

Detecting dead wildlife – it becomes difficult and tricky in detecting dead wildlife. It depends on various circumstances as area, size of the animal, environmental conditions, time of year, etc. so it’s very often that the dead animals are detected.

Public/media -in most cases the public becomes emotional. Wildlife crimes often generate high media attention, due to which the investigators have to put extra effort in doing the investigation of the wildlife crime.

Punishment for wildlife crime

The wildlife crime differs from other crime forms like murder, drugs, etc but the crime is an offense that is punishable for at least 4 years or more. Wildlife crimes come under serious crimes.

Constitution of India

In the directive principle of state policy in the constitution of India, it is said that in article 51(A) (g) to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures.

It is the fundamental duty of every citizen to protect the natural environment and protect wild animals given under article 246 of the constitution of India.

Article 48 (A) deals with the protection and improvement of the environment and safeguarding of forests and wildlife. The state shall endeavor to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country.

Wildlife Protection Act, 1972

The Act provides for the establishment of wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, etc. The Act helped India to become a part of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife Fauna and Flora (CITES). CITES is a multilateral treaty with the objective of protecting animals and plants. The act provided protection area for the animals as Sanctuaries, national parks, conservation reserves, community reserves, tiger reserves, etc. in the Act there are a total of six schedules. It is applicable throughout India.

There are some major threats to wildlife are- hunting, poaching, pollution, climate change, habitat destruction, fragmentation, overexploitation of habitat resources, etc.

The UNODC that is the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes included wildlife crimes in the list of transactional organized crimes in 2003. It is defined by the UNODC that “A group of two or more persons come together to commit one or more crimes to obtain financial benefit or material benefit is a TOC that is transactional organized crimes.

Causes of death in wildlife

The death of wildlife can be attributed to natural and non- natural, human-induced, causes. Natural death can occur due to disease, starvation, decrepitude, predation, Intra-/interspecific fights, natural disasters (strikes, lightning, flooding, landslides, thunderstorms, etc), ingestion of toxic plants, etc.

The non-natural death of the animals can be occurred due to human induces legal causes can be legal hunting, electrocution, collisions with a vehicle, trains, aircraft, power lines, windmills, etc, the human-induced illegal causes can be trapping, illegal shooting, poisoning, etc.

The wildlife crime scene documentation includes –

Notes

Oral recordings

Photography/videography

Searching a wildlife crime scene

Collection of evidence at a suspected wildlife crime site

Chain of custody

People to be interviewed in wildlife crime cases

Limitations of protein marker-based identification

The apoptosis process during hair biogenesis is the major reason behind the poor DNA extraction from hair. In the biogenesis process of hair, most of the DNA degraded and only a trace of DNA extracted Range of discrimination also has not been established to date.

Forensic techniques

Serological techniques

Serological techniques supported interaction between antibody and their cognate antigen a bit like the lock and key model. Species-specific antibodies are used for the identification of species of origin of the biological evidence. The concerning problems with serological techniques are that the non-availability of species-specific antibodies in our laboratory. Also, there’s a wide report that cross-reactions of antibodies in non-target species sometimes produce positive results. Therefore, it is only considered as a presumptive test within the forensic analysis

Microscopic examination

It includes the morphology, elemental analysis, and cuticular scale pattern of the hair. Hair plays an important role which may be wont to identify the species. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) is often utilized for the identification of the animal’s supported hair evidence. The main limitations of microscopic techniques are that it requires samples for microscopic examination in well preserved.

Molecular biology techniques

DNA molecular techniques are utilized in wildlife forensic investigation concern with the poaching of animals (mammals, birds, etc) from national parks and guarded areas in South Korea, Italy, and other countries. Molecular techniques are proven to be more reliable compared to other techniques like anatomy, morphology, serology also microscopic. Initially, DNA-based methods utilized were Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD), Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP), and Random Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP)

Infra-red techniques

Recently, It’s has been reported that spectroscopies like mid-infrared (mid-IR), near-infrared (NIR), and Raman together with chemometric techniques are highly efficient to discriminate species and also helps in the identification of geographical origins of herbal medicines. However, NIR spectroscopy is wide thanks to high reliability, low cost, and straightforward analysis of biological evidence like soil, food, and beverages.

Radioisotopes tracer techniques

This technique is employed to detect the trace elements within the evidence that remain in wildlife forensic. Radioisotopes are more abundant at different locations and therefore the presence of these radioisotopes provides the information and knowledge about their most probable origin supported the isotopes abundance maps. There are two main types of elements that are incorporated into the body; essential and trace. The non-essential elements include aluminum, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, molybdenum, nickel, lead, and tin.

Footprints Analysis

Footprints of wildlife species are important evidence within the forensic analysis of species. Footprints are impressions of animals foot on surfaces where they walkout or places of their captivity. The sort and age of the species identification are predicated on the pattern of the footprints and their size. The major or main problem with footprint impressions based identification of species includes is an undetectable footprint on hard surfaces and sometimes these footprint sites are often contaminated by the presence of other animals.

Laboratory Investigation In Suspected Wildlife Crime Cases

According to the World Economic Forum, “With a value estimated up to $23 billion, illegal wildlife trafficking is the fourth most lucrative global crime after drugs, humans, and arms.” Wildlife crime has reached far beyond fulfilling the nutritional needs of communities and has taken the role of feeding the decadent lifestyles and gargantuan greed of consumers across the parts of the globe. The oppression and prosecution of alleged perpetrators of this crime are often unsuccessful or come to nothing because of many lenient legislations or varying rules around the world. But if this is the case then should we just watch this barbaric show silently? or should we at least try to put some minimal efforts to eliminate this? Although the use of forensic investigations dates long back in the history of human civilization, its application to veterinary sciences and wildlife forensic cases is a rather recent achievement.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) under the guidance of Ken Goddard is the world’s only laboratory dedicated to the investigation of these wildlife crime cases. It identifies, examines, and compares evidence using a variety of scientific instruments and procedures to connect the suspect to the crime scene, and the victim with physical evidence. The staff here are divided into two branches—administrative and forensic. The administrative branch is comprised of the administrative chief and staff members who handle IT, personnel, budget, evidence control, and maintenance duties. The forensics branch includes acting branch head Dr. Ed Espinoza, and 17 other scientists working in the lab’s five forensic teams: veterinary pathology, genetics, morphology, chemistry, and criminalistics.

This lab has more than 200 agents and wildlife inspectors throughout the US and about 150 foreign countries who are part of the United Nations CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) Treaty. On average, the lab staff here analyses more than 8,000 items of evidence per year. The reason why the USFWS remains the only one of its kind in this world comes down to money that is spent to maintain the lab and its work as the annual operating budget of the lab is around $5 million.

Highlights Of A Case Analysed By The USFWS

The team of USFWS investigated a claim that the scales of pangolins which are threatened mammals mostly found in Africa and Asia contain an addictive painkilling substance known as tramadol. Pangolins are the only mammals in the world with protective scales that are known in Chinese medicine to have medicinal qualities. Due to this and for their meat, they are one of the most trafficked and exported mammals in the world. Many news outlets from southeast Asia reported that pangolin scales contained tramadol which further increased their popularity in the illegal trading industry.

Four of the USFWS’s scientists determined the validity of these claims by analysing the chemical signatures of scales from more than 100 pangolins. They found no traces of tramadol, only keratin was present which is commonly found in hair and nails but holds no medicinal qualities. The findings were published in Conservation Science and Practice in June 2019 and featured in a National Geographic article which debunked the claims. The researchers believe that this will be an important step in limiting the interest in illegal poaching and trafficking of pangolins.

Basics In Suspected Wildlife Crime Cases

Crime Scene Investigation (CSI)

An exhaustive and thorough crime scene investigation (CSI) is of utmost importance in any case of suspected illegal killing of wildlife. Failure to do so may result in evidence and information being lost or overlooked and may hamper not only the investigation but also the result in the court. Wildlife crimes investigations may pose certain challenges to the investigators and the procedures necessary at the site may not be as obvious as in other cases as the methods for securing, preserving, and searching are different. All crime sites involving dead animals do pose a health hazard to the investigators involved, thus each team-member processing the crime scene should have a PPE kit before entering the scene. Experts such as Veterinarians or biologists are also called to assist in these cases. All the evidence should be properly labelled for further laboratory investigations.

People To Be Interviewed In Suspected Wildlife Crime Cases

Wildlife crime is mostly in rural settings with the local community living nearby often being more aware of things happening than in urban centres. Thus, to maximize the investigation scope in suspected cases, interviews of various persons and stakeholders can be useful. Persons that should be interviewed include:

Local hunters or local wildlife authorities because they have a profound knowledge of the local wildlife and location.
Landowner of the crime site
Locals regularly using the area for recreational purposes (running, cycling, or dog-walking)
Residents close to the crime site

Laboratory Investigations

Forensic scientists around the world are guided by this golden rule namely Lockard’s Exchange Principle which says that ‘every contact leaves a trace’. Forensic DNA typing allows scientists to examine the genetic sequences in DNA to identify the wild animal or plant species a particular product came from or to link biological evidence such as sweat, saliva, or hair to the individual criminal that left them at the crime scene. Forensic trichology enables scientists to analyse the unique structures of animal hair at the microscopic level to identify the species to which a confiscated skin or fur belongs. Forensic fingerprint analysis allows scientists to prove that a suspect handled the knife, gun, trap, vehicle, or any other object suspected of the commission of the offense. Forensic scientists can today retrieve fingerprints even from ivory, eggshells, and feathers enabling the investigators to directly link the true criminal.

Laboratory Investigation In Wildlife Crime Cases In India

India is one of the mega biodiverse countries in the world. This diversity is however under great stress from hunting, poaching, and organized illegal wildlife trade with global reach. If left unchecked, this will soon see the end of several species in the country. The Wildlife in India is protected under The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 but it is not a complete code of procedure. Therefore, there is a lack of uniformity among the states in practices, procedures, and methodology in cases relating to wildlife crime investigation often leading to operational legal complications.

The Wildlife crime investigation methodology is still evolving in India. Therefore, there have been various requests from the State wildlife crime enforcement agencies to develop the skill and capacities of their investigating officers professionally and scientifically. Based on this felt need, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) tried to comply with the handbook to help the investigating officers of particularly the officers of State Forest Departments. The State forest department of Tamil Nadu is planning to set-up a full-fledged dedicated forensic laboratory for wildlife crime investigation to help crack these cases and increase the rate of conviction. The state government of Maharashtra is also planning to establish a forensic division in Nagpur. Other testing labs to examine the wildlife crime evidence are Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) Hyderabad, Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) Lucknow, and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) Dehradun.

Conclusion

The wildlife deals with undomesticated animal species, includes all plants, fungi, and other organisms that grow without being introduced by humans or live wild in any area. As per the wildlife protection act, 1972 “wildlife” includes any aquatics, animals which form part of any habitat. Forensics is the collection, preserving, analyzing, and reporting of evidence for the application of science in a criminal investigation. Wildlife crimes can occur in many forms that can be in the form of illegal keeping of wildlife, damaging the health of wildlife, killing of wildlife by inappropriate means, or under unlawful conditions. Wildlife crime differs from other crime forms like murder, drugs, etc but the crime is an offense that is punishable for at least 4 years or more for doing the wildlife crime. Wildlife crimes come under serious crimes. The forensics techniques are Serological techniques, Microscopic examination, Molecular biology techniques, Infra-red techniques, Radioisotopes tracer techniques, Footprints Analysis.

These investigations can be challenging at times, moreover, the conviction rate in these types of crimes are even worse because of the pitfalls in varying legislations, lenient legislation, lack of knowledge, or even improper investigation but it is high time that we realize how important this is to protect the biodiversity and to maintain the balance on the Earth. The time has come to truly harness the power of forensics in our efforts and common intention to kill wildlife crime in its tracks.

WILDLIFE FORENSICS: CURRENT INVESTIGATION TECHNIQUES & LAWS IN INDIA

WILDLIFE FORENSICS-INVESTIGATION TECHNIQUES

FAQs

What Kind Of Legislation Is There In India To Protect The Hunting And Poaching Of The Wildlife?

The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 is the umbrella act to prevent such kinds of crimes against the animals. However, wildlife law enforcement agencies operate at the state level in India under the control of the State Government.

Why Are Forensic Labs For Investigations Related To Wildlife Crime Cases So Minimal In Number Across The World?

This is because some countries do not even recognize this illegal hunting and poaching of animals as a crime so establishing forensic labs for investigations is still a far cry. There needs to be more awareness about this around the world.

Are The Results Of These Forensic Labs Trustworthy?

Yes, these results are determined after conducting a series of experiments with the most accurate instruments. So, they are reliable and trustworthy.

Compiled & Shared by- This paper is a compilation of groupwork provided by the Team, LITD (Livestock Institute of Training & Development)

Image-Courtesy-Google

Reference-On Request

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