All About Forensic Psychology

All About Forensic Psychology

Forensic Toxicology

Forensic Toxicology An Introduction

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What is WILDLIFE FORENSICS?

Let’s talk about the wild things……


What we term as progress of civilization has led to extermination of wildlife. Poaching of animals, including buying and selling of protected animals/their products-the best example here being illegal trade of mink and snake skin for leather designs include crimes against wildlife. Wildlife Forensics has been a much talked about division in the Forensic field during recent years. Killing of wild animals that are protected from hunting by laws is one of the most serious crimes investigated by wildlife forensic scientists.

The main aim is to use scientific techniques to examine, interpret and compare evidence from the crime scene and relate them. The techniques used are same as in human forensics but differ in knowing and distinguishing from a variety of species in cases of animals. The evidence collected to be analyzed here include blood and tissue samples, carcasses, hair, teeth, bones, claws, feathers tusks, hides, fur and materials that were used to kill the animals like poisons, projectiles and weapons.
Wildlife Forensics in India
The Law: Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
In India, Wildlife Protection Society of India has established a large network of undercover agents and informers to gather intelligence on the growing illegal trade in endangered species. Despite increased awareness and vigilance, WPSI’s Wildlife Crime Database shows a continuing increase in wildlife poaching and smuggling. Analysis of WPSI data reveals an alarming scenario. Although some poaching incidents are one-off events, many are part of large organized networks of poachers, traders and smugglers - all controlled by city-based businessmen who are seldom linked directly to the illicit goods.
Wildlife Institute of India has been receiving wildlife offence cases from various enforcement agencies since 1987. 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 they use became operational in January 1998.

Wildlife DNA forensics

The application of DNA forensic techniques in wildlife crime investigations has provided enforcement officers with new tools for detecting criminal activity. Wildlife DNA Services specializes in the development and application of DNA forensic techniques to investigate wildlife crimes. At Wildlife Institute of India various techniques such as PCR-RFLP, mitochondrial DNA analysis are standardized for identifying species. With the close cooperation of Zoological Parks at New Delhi, Mysore, Chennai and Kanpur, it has been possible to procure sixty three reference tissue samples of forty species which includes 24 mammals and sixteen birds during the reported period.
Research in DNA Forensics:
A novel microsatellite (STR) marker for forensic identification of big cats in India (Anju Singh)
India is the home to five of the eight majestic big cats of the world. The three major big cats namely, lion, tiger, and leopard are listed in the Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Apart from the severe loss of the habitat, these are continuously facing the danger of extinction mainly due to poaching and hunting for their body parts, which are being greatly valued by apothecaries marketing traditional Chinese medicines. With the advent of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), DNA-based markers have emerged as major tools in the arena of wildlife forensics. Microsatellites (short tandem repeats, STRs) are markers of choice because of their polymorphic and co-dominant nature. These strictly follow the Mendelian inheritance and are highly reproducible. We have identified a new microsatellite (STR) locus Ple 46, which shows amplification in a species-specific manner (size of STR) in all the members of the family felidae studied here. This PCR-based, non-invasive method opens a new avenue to forensic identification of big cats.
Forensic Expertise in Wildlife:
Experts in the morphology of animals can identify the species, and may be the subspecies of animals found at crime scenes and often determine the age and sex of animals. Careful observations of feathers, skulls and skeletons can give the time since death. Forensic experts in fingerprinting, ballistics, soil, glass, hair examine evidence visually and with microscopic techniques. The need of a pathologist occurs to examine carcasses for wounds to determine what caused the animal to die and to distinguish between natural death and from human killing. Chemists may be asked to identify poisons, medicines and their content. The use of protein and DNA analyses to provide information about the identity of a sample is done by molecular biologists. Genetics can provide useful information about the identification of species and may give environmental information of the animal to the geneticist.
Related Links:
Wildlife Protection Society of India: www.wpsi-india.org
Wildlife Institute of India: www.wii.gov.in

A Forensic Scientist……Do you have the potential in you???

Since time immemorial, crime stories have paved a way to fascinate, excite and evoke the imagination of people. Who killed, how the crime was committed and why is a very popular area and everyone seems to have his or her own theory regarding the crime. However in real life performing the task of crime-detection is a stupendous task. This is where Forensic Science comes in.

Forensic Science as many say owes its origins to those people who first developed the underlying principles and foundations necessary to aid the criminal justice system by identifying the physical evidences and interpreting the results. Today as many believe Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has highly popularized the first fictional character who applied scientific techniques in crime-detection. And since then, the emergence of forensic scientists and criminal investigators has led ways for solving crimes.

Read on to see what it takes to be a real Forensic Scientist:

1. Scope and Education in Forensic Science: Forensic Science encompasses almost all the branches of science and has wide applications not only from the medico-legal point of view but is also applicable to pure sciences, paleontology, molecular biology, soil science, etc.

Education in Forensic Science is still in its formative stages. However recent trends in India are encouraging as many institutes conduct certificate, diploma and degree courses in the field. Yet another trend in education is the online courses provided in Fingerprints, Cyber Forensics, and Questioned Documents etc.

Masters degree in Forensic Science: To take up Masters Degree, you need to be a graduate in any one of the following discipline: Physics, Chemistry, Zoology, Botany, Bio-Chemistry, B Pharm, MBBS, Engineering, Computer Science, Microbiology or Psychology.

2. Main Objective as a Forensic Scientist: You must collect, identify, analyze and interpret physical evidence related to criminal investigations. Perform tests on weapons or substances, such as fiber, hair, and tissue to determine its significance to investigation. May testify in the court of law as expert witnesses on evidence or crime laboratory techniques. Serve as specialists in area of expertise, such as ballistics, fingerprinting, handwriting, questioned documents etc.

3. Qualities of a Forensic Scientist:

§ Forensic scientists are thinkers as most investigations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They are excellent with details, putting pieces of puzzle together and are realistic in team work.

§ They have a good logical, practical and methodical approach and have ethics maintained.

§ Be good in communication skills while conveying information to others and paying attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

§ Forensic Scientist who works as an analyst in the laboratory should not succumb to pressure and must be able to maintain good concentration while doing repetitive work

§ As an expert witness, he must be able to explain the working of scientific instruments and complex chemical reactions in simple language understandable to a lay person.

In conclusion, as the crime tide increases, the world of forensics keeps extending its boundaries into the realms of science to aid in the criminal investigations. It is upto the forensic scientist to take the plunge into the unknown…..!!!!!

Debunking Myths to Forensic science