Wildlife Forensic in India

Wildlife Institute of India has been receiving wildlife offence cases from various enforcement agencies since 1987. It was felt that enforcement of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act (1972) is often hampered due to the lack of reference materials and methods necessary to identify the animal and plant species in various wildlife offence cases.

Therefore, a need was felt for strengthening the Wildlife Forensic capabilities so as to support the enforcement agencies in the proper implementation of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 in controlling the illegal wildlife trade.


Acollaborative project between US Fish and Wildlife Services and Wildlife institute of India was initiated in October 1995 to strengthen the Wildlife forensic capability at WII through Research and Development and then disseminating the knowledge to the various law enforcement agencies.

Wildlife Institute of India provided the logistic support as well as the work space for the forensic lab, while the infrastructure has been procured through Wildlife Forensic Project. The forensic laboratory became operational in January 1998.


Personnel
Dr. S.P. Goyal, Scientist-F, Nodal Officer (e-mail: goyalsp@wii.gov.in )
Mr. Sandeep K. Gupta, Scientist-C
Mr. C. P. Sharma, Technical Staff
Mr. Thapa, Office Assistant

Visit the official page of Wildlife Institute India

http://www.wii.gov.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=139&Itemid=310

Careers in Forensic Entomology

Forensic Entomologists are typically employed by academic institutions and not law enforcement agencies. They can provide valuable information to law enforcement, Medical Examiners, and Coroners in establishing a portion of the postmortem interval. Entomologists are experts at determining the age of insects on human remains. Such information can be extremely valuable when law enforcement investigators are attempting to establish a time frame to support or refute suspect and/or witness statements.

Forensic entomology is a young subfield, which is the application of this science to medicolegal death investigations. Forensic Entomologists estimate the post-mortem interval (PMI)—the amount of time that passes after the death of the victim. These scientists use insects to make such determinations, as well as to help reveal the probable cause, location, and time of death. Forensic Entomologists are also able to glean other valuable information by studying the insects that live on dead bodies. For example, insect evidence can be used to:


• deduce if a body was disturbed or moved after death
• identify a body by analyzing the DNA of flesh consumed by insects
• determine whether a dead individual used drugs by analyzing accumulated toxins in the insects that fed on the body
• establish whether a suspect was present at the scene of a crime
• ascertain the presence or position of wounds in badly decomposed bodies

Forensic Entomologists have expertise about the life cycle of insects that feed on decomposing flesh. They know that certain insects eat specific parts of bodies at particular intervals. Insects also develop through their life phases from egg to larvae to pupae to adults within a constant timeframe according to each insect species.

CHECK VIDEO ON COOL JOBS: FORENSIC ENTOMOLOGY
http://blip.tv/file/1157050