In a report as part of Call to Earth, CNN highlights the Wildlife Forensics Academy (WFA) in South Africa. On a mission to tackle poaching, the WFA recreates wildlife crimes in a warehouse and students and rangers dressed in hazmat suits are taught how to handle the evidence.
Across the world, wildlife crimes – including animal trafficking and poaching – are on the rise and are a major threat to the planet’s biodiversity. By providing forensics training, Greg Simpson, co-founder of the WFA, hopes to increase the rate of successful convictions, “It’s really important to give people skills so that they can collect evidence that can be used in an investigation and hopefully down the line will end up in a prosecution.”
Often, Simpson says, wildlife crimes happen in remote areas without witnesses and first responders can accidentally disrupt the scene and contaminate evidence. As a result, the culprit isn’t caught or punished.
The facility tries to make the training experience as realistic as possible. It uses life-size animals preserved by taxidermy, and some are marked with bloody wounds made with red paint. Besides the corrugated iron walls and roof, the warehouse looks like a typical dry landscape, with sandy terrain and a scattering of plants.
Once the crime scene has been investigated, the students are taught how to chemically analyse the evidence at an on-site laboratory. The lessons culminate in a replica courtroom where they practice presenting the evidence at trial and undergo cross-examination. Phil Snijman, director of education at the WFA and former state advocate and prosecutor tells CNN, “The purpose of cross-examination is to test the credibility, the trustworthiness of evidence. And unless you can survive it, the court might not accept your evidence.”
Launched in 2022, the WFA attracts university students, such as those studying veterinary or biomedical sciences, and wildlife rangers from all over the world to its one to four-week courses. This year, it expects to train around 200 people. Current student Leita Mkhabela, a ranger from the all-female Black Mamba anti-poaching unit that operates in Greater Kruger, explains, “This is something we come across every day, we have a high rate of rhino poaching. We have so many poachers that have walked free in court because rangers didn’t collect enough evidence. It’s really important for rangers to get this knowledge.”
For the WFA, assisting law enforcement is its central mission, but it also hopes to raise awareness of the threats presented by the illegal wildlife trade and why it should be treated as a priority. Simpson says, “It’s a threat to biodiversity, it’s a threat to human health. If we can improve knowledge around this, that would be really valuable.”