Life Solved
Fingerprinting Pangolin Scales To Fight Wildlife Crime
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Episode notes
In this episode of Life Solved, we hear about a cross-disciplinary project to help fight the illegal trade in plants and animals.
Dr Nick Pamment tells us about his Wildlife Crime module and how this led to a collaboration with Jac Reed, a lecturer in Criminology and Dr Paul Smith, a Reader in Crime Science. Together the team have combined their expertise in criminology and forensics to help tackle the illegal trade in wildlife.
Rangers working in the field can find themselves in dangerous scenarios and need to work quickly to gather evidence.
Find out about how the working group tested their fingerprinting approach on a sample of pangolin scales to develop an easy-to-use method that’s making a real difference already.
POINTS OF INTEREST & FURTHER READING
Dr Nick Pamment
https://www.port.ac.uk/about-us/structure-and-governance/our-people/our-staff/nicholas-pamment
Dr Paul Smith@paul1smith2
https://www.port.ac.uk/about-us/structure-and-governance/our-people/our-staff/paul-smith
Jac Reed @Jac_Reed
https://www.port.ac.uk/about-us/structure-and-governance/our-people/our-staff/jac-reed
Fingerprinting pangolin scales
https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/portal/files/19526874/Fingerprint_on_Pangolin_Scales_FINAL_1_.pdf
What is a pangolin?
https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/pangolin
Find out more about wildlife crime
https://cites.org/eng/prog/iccwc/crime.php
Find out more about a multi-million pound smuggling trade
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