Murders and robberies have been on the decline recently, but officials report that one category of violent crime has not gone down: crimes against wildlife. Illegal hunting is a major problem in the U.S. as is the black-market trade in exotic pets, and the importation of products made from endangered species. The problem is so severe that officials have turned to the high-tech tools of human crime fighting to catch poachers and smugglers. They’ve built a forensic laboratory that’s so sophisticated it’s been dubbed the “Scotland Yard” of wildlife law enforcement.Living on Earth’s Terry FitzPatrick spent a day at the lab in Ashland, Oregon.
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