During the middle decades of the last century,
increasing pressures on wildlife populations and
wildlife habitat prompted passage of new laws
such as the Bald Eagle Protection Act (1940) and
the U.S.’s first endangered species statutes (1966,
1969). The 1970s brought additional laws—notably
the Marine Mammal Protection Act (1972) and the
Endangered Species Act (1973)—along with U.S.
ratification and implementation of the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species of
Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1975.
Scope of Investigations
Today, the work is diverse and the challenges are
many. Staffing levels are such that most special
agents—plainclothes armed criminal investigators—
operate over large territories with a variety of cases
underway at any one time. A single agent may have
to cover an entire state; several states have only two
agents assigned to them. In a ‘typical’ day an FWS
agent may talk to officials at an electric utility about
how to prevent raptor electrocutions, plan a weekend surveillance of a commercial waterfowl hunt
club suspected of using bait, or interview a subject linked to a transatlantic ivory trafficking ring.
“Our agents respond to the whole gamut of wildlife
crimes,” says Perez. Among them:
Take and/or commercialization. Agents investigate killings of endangered or threatened species,
from Mexican wolves (Canis lupus baileyi) to Indiana
bats (Myotis sodalis), as well as destruction of their
habitat. In 2009, for example, Service special agents
concluded a multi-state undercover investigation by
arresting four individuals charged with killing significant numbers of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos)
and selling eagle parts. Other recent FWS investigations foiled trafficking in live ocelots (Leopardus
pardalis) (an endangered species); documented the
unlawful take and sale of sea otters (Enhydra lutris)
in Alaska; secured $56,918 in fines and restitution
from a South Dakota animal park for dealing in bear
gall bladders and buying and selling two live grizzly
bears (Ursus arctos horribilis); and closed a case in
California after a railroad company agreed via a civil
settlement to spend more than $680,000 on conservation efforts in compensation for destroying habitat
of the threatened valley elderberry longhorn beetle
(Desmocerus californicus dimorphus).
State and interstate crime. Federal agents
frequently support state and tribal wildlife officers in
investigating wildlife crimes. Last year, for instance,
final prosecutions wrapped up in an investigation
involving FWS, NOAA Fisheries, and California Fish
and Game. The agencies secured some $800,000 in
fines and restitution from seven defendants involved
in the black market capture, interstate sale, and
export of live leopard sharks
( Triakis semifasciata). Service
and state officers also teamed
up recently to expose the illegal
collection and interstate sale of
turtles and snakes in West Virginia and New York. Such crimes
can have serious consequences
for those found guilty. Last year,
a South Dakota hunting guide
received a 37-month-long prison
sentence—the longest ever for
wildlife crime in that state—for
selling and conducting illegal
hunts on the Standing Rock and
Cheyenne River Sioux reservations.
Efforts by FWS agents and biologists to work cooperatively with industries to reduce their impact on
wildlife have led to voluntary “fixes” to the nation’s
power lines (an avian collision and electrocution
hazard) and oil and gas production facilities (where
open pits and ponds lure migratory birds to an oil-slicked death). When outreach falls short, companies
face criminal prosecution—as one major western
utility discovered when it was ordered to pay more
than $10.5 million for killing eagles in Wyoming.
Wildlife inspector
Bruce Walker’s calm
demeanor belies his
potentially dicey task:
checking a shipment of
live reptiles. a 22-year
veteran of the U.S. fish
and Wildlife Service
based in Miami, Walker
says he has gotten
comfortable with this
potentially hazardous
part of his job, learning
over the years which
species of snakes are
more aggressive and
which are more docile.
“i’ve only been bitten
once,” he says, “by a
gecko, i believe.”
Credit: USf WS
Environmental violations.
FWS agents probe wildlife deaths
caused by environmental contaminants such as poisons and
oil and chemical spills or by industrial operations
such as mining and electric power distribution.
One such case involved $60,000 in penalties for a
Colorado pesticide applicator who killed more than
2,000 migratory birds when he misapplied a chemical insecticide to a 95-acre sunflower field.
International trafficking violations. In FY
2008, nearly 70 percent of all investigations opened
by FWS officers involved species from beyond U.S.
borders. For wildlife trafficking investigations,
special agents team with FWS’s force of wildlife
inspectors. These uniformed officers are stationed
at the 38 airports, ocean ports, and land border
crossings where FWS regulations mandate nearly
all wildlife trade to enter or leave the country. Popular commodities in the black market wildlife trade
include such contraband as African elephant ivory,
