Home > Media > Books > Donna Jackson Kallner and Donna M. Jackson - The Bone Detectives: How Forensic Anthropologists Solve Crimes and Uncover Mysteries of the Dead
Donna Jackson Kallner and Donna M. Jackson - The Bone Detectives: How Forensic Anthropologists Solve Crimes and Uncover Mysteries of the Dead
A Poacher Brought to Justice: Forensic Science in the National Parks
Written: Sep 02 '01
Product Rating:
Pros: Well-documented discussion of field scientists at work
Cons: weasels on the bad-guy's name
The Bottom Line: A fine description of cooperation between natural scientists in the field and the laboratory, as they catch a poacher who killed in a National Park.
scmrak's Full Review: Donna Jackson Kallner and Donna M. Jackson - The B...
Sunday, September 19, 1993, Yellowstone National Park: Park officials today discovered that one of Yellowstone's most prominent and well-known residents was killed last night by person or persons unknown. Charger, an 800-pound bull Elk -- famous as one of the most visible survivors of the 1988 Yellowstone forest fires -- was shot and killed sometime during the night. The massive animal's distinctive rack of antlers had been removed with a chainsaw. The bull's carcass was left at the site of the shooting, a few hundred feet from a main park thoroughfare, in an area known as Elk Park. Law enforcement rangers investigating the shooting recovered two bullets of an undetermined caliber from the body. A box of .25 caliber rifle shells were found nearby.
The animal's remains and other evidence found at or near the scene were removed to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Oregon.
September, 2001:As I write sitting in my home in the office, Donna Jackson's The Wildlife Detectives: How Forensic Scientists Fight Crimes Against Nature lies on the desk to my left. The cover illustration -- a photograph taken by the award-winning wildlife photography team of Wendy Shattil and Bob Rozinski -- shows Charger himself, captured on film with his great, shaggy head raised at the instant of bugling. This scene is not new to me: I need only turn my head a few degrees to the right to see a framed, signed print of the exact same photograph where it hangs on the wall above my desk. It is a magnificent photograph of a magnificent animal, an animal that met an ignominious death at the hands of a criminal. An animal that was killed very near the center of one of North America's largest preserves. This, said the U S Attorney assigned to the case, is not hunting. "It is like killing an animal in a zoo."
The case of Charger is one of the first times in history that the culprit was brought to justice mainly through the actions of the Wildlife Forensics Laboratory. Jackson's narrative follows step-by-step the progress of the investigation, which reads like police-procedural mystery novel:
- Crime-scene investigators collect forensic evidence: spent shells, the elk's body, and the bullets that killed him. They also find tire tracks and a box of ammunition (very much out of place in a National Park).
- The media pick up on the story, and outraged citizens donate money for a reward leading to the capture of the poachers.
- A taxidermist in Utah reads a newspaper story and notes that the antlers in an accompanying picture look familiar: a local hunter by the name of "Jack Porter" (the suspect's name has been changed in the book) had brought in a similar rack for mounting
- F & W agents question Porter, and he turns over a .25-caliber rifle for ballistics comparisons.
- Meanwhile, the forensics lab has received the suspect rack and the corpse of the dead elk. DNA testing proves that the rack is from an elk -- almost certainly Charger -- and a sophisticated technique like a high-tech jigsaw puzzle proves that the rack was taken from Charger's skull.
- Ballistics testing proves, however, that Porter's rifle is not the weapon that killed Charger.
- February, 1994: an informant tells the Fish and Wildlife Service that Porter has been bragging that the government will never catch him. The informant says that Porter has a second .25 caliber rifle hidden in his home.
- March, 1994: A warrant is executed on Porter's house, and a rifle of the correct caliber is seized. Also taken as evidence is a daily journal kept by Porter's wife, in which she actually logged his daily activities; including numerous cases of poaching, high-lighting deer and elk, and -- the clincher -- the night he came home with Charger's antlers.
"Jack Porter" was tried and convicted in April, 1995, for poaching in a National Preserve. He was sentenced to eight months in jail (of which four were served under house arrest), fined $2000 plus a $10,000 restitution fee, and he was placed on probation for three years. The National park Service seized the antlers (valued at $8000) and Porter's rifle ($1500). Justice was served. (Note - "Porter" was also convicted of a second case of poaching that occurred in Idaho less than two weeks after the shooting of Charger. Apparently, this was his "hobby."
The Book is laid out in a simple narrative, with each step in the case covering a chapter of two to three pages. Accompanying each chapter is a discussion of the techniques used by the Wildlife Forensics Lab: ballistics, DNA testing, and the like. There are also one-page file sections on other cases the Forensics Lab has worked on: eagle poaching, elephant ivory, grizzly bear poaching, importation of endangered sea turtle meat, and other crimes. The text is written by Donna Jackson, a journalist and science writer who also penned The Bone Detectives: How Forensic Anthropologists Solve Crimes and Uncover Mysteries of the Dead
The Illustrations include numerous photographs taken by wildlife photographers Wendy Shattil and Bob Rozinski, of Denver. Shattil and Rozinski are widely known for their wildlife photographs, which grace the pages of many wildlife calenders. They are also well-known for their documentation of the wildlife -- particularly eagles -- at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, a Superfund site (one of the most polluted sites in North America) on the outskirts of the Mile High City.
In Closing: The Wildlife Forensic Laboratory has been in existence for some twelve years,and it's chronically underfunded. Jackson offers suggestions as to how members of the public who want to get involved can help (including donations to the Forensic Sciences Foundation). The Lab is not merely involved in high-profile cases like that of Charger, it also serves on a daily basis to capture those who would smuggle into this country living endangered species or the body parts of those species.
I had but one quibble with this excellent little book: the author chose to disguise the poacher's name "to protect his family," a protection that I don't think they deserved (his wife knew full well that he was a poacher). Otherwise, it's an important work that should be shared with your children -- the only exception is a disturbingly graphic photograph of the mutilated elk's body. This one's good for middle-school and high-school-aged kids; a little complex for younger ones.
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