Forensic Science in Support of Wildlife Conservation Efforts - Morphological and Chemical Approaches (Global Trends)

Wildlife forensics is an emerging field and involves a number of players including the international community itself, national police agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and forensic and scientific experts. Collectively, these players attempt to prevent or prosecute crimes that specifically target wildlife, and deal with what is becoming an increasingly burgeoning global problem. The number and type of methods that are used to answer questions related to wildlife crimes and to recover evidence for prosecutions are numerous. This paper outlines the key questions that concern crimes perpetrated against wildlife and provides a context for those methods that fall generally under the headings of morphological and chemical. A commentary is provided on the relative success of these methods and how they relate either directly or indirectly to evidence gathering and to one another. It is clear that a considerable forensic toolkit exists, and more could be achieved with further developments of newer methods.