The Wildlife Professional - Spring 2010 2009

in zooarcheology with years of field experience, he became an expert in reconstructing how people used animals from the bits and pieces they left behind. His skills transferred perfectly to the wildlife crime lab, where he is a specialist in bone identification, amphibian and reptile products, and traditional medicines.

From their slender bodies, diminutive noses, long tails and number of limbs and toes, Baker recognized the “jerky” as desiccated salamanders. Their appearance was striking—dark brown with tan stripes and a distinct ridge running down their backs. The drying process muted their color and made them extremely delicate.

To identify the fragile creatures, Baker hit the books, researching everything he could find on amphibians in Laos. He started with IUCN’s Wildlife in Lao PDR: 1999 Status Report, but it mentioned virtually nothing about salamanders. Baker did not know if that meant that no salamanders were in the wildlife trade, or if Laos had no salamanders. If the latter, then these items had originated elsewhere and been transshipped through Laos.

Baker turned to the primary literature and found a 2002 Journal of Herpetology article by Bryan Stuart, then a herpetologist at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History, which described the discovery of a new salamander species from Laos and the first known to occur in that country. The detailed description and photograph in Stuart’s four-page paper, combined with the animal’s distinctive coloration, patterning, and bumps, allowed Baker to identify the bundles as what are now commonly called Laos warty newts (Paramesotriton laoensis). Though they were too new to be protected by U.S. legislation or CITES, Laotian law prohibited export of all wildlife unless accompanied by a permit.

Case Closed

In January 2009 U.S. District Court Judge Joan Ericksen convicted Lor and her daughter of conspiracy to import wildlife into the United States and sentenced them to two years probation, saying, “To the extent you were dealing in these animal parts for drug purposes, it’s the same as being a drug dealer.” The Forensics Laboratory’s identifications were vital for conviction because they proved illegal smuggling of protected species. As FWS Special Agent O’Connor said, “Without them, we’d never have made our case.”