Wildlife Forensic Academy
The Wildlife Forensic Academy is located in Buffelsfountain, South Africa, and is the world’s first wildlife forensics academy. At the time I attended the academy, it had been open for only a year. I was part of the second class and was the first American to complete the entire program. During my time there, I experienced in-person lectures, hands-on training, and real-life experiences.
The academy offers a two-week course, a four-week course, and an extended internship. In the two-week course, you will be introduced to a wide range of wildlife crime cases and the methods to investigate them. You will encounter a variety of scenarios, focusing on the challenges and types of crime in South Africa. Throughout my time there, I learned about the local ecology and history and gained valuable survival skills.
I was able to apply what I learned at Waynesburg and expand my understanding of how to correctly identify and document forensic traces and build a crime scene document that I presented in a mock trial. During the two-week course, you learn about the principles of forensic science, such as the integrity of evidence, crime scene documentation, and evidence recovery and analysis, as they pertain to wildlife crime investigations. The academy provides a chance to engage in practical exercises in preservation, documentation, and analysis using the state-of-the-art crime scene facility at Buffelsfountain Game and Nature Reserve, South Africa.
During my time at the academy, I also explored other disciplines that are important to wildlife crime, such as forensic veterinary pathology, injured wildlife management, anti-poaching, and more. I had the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational excursions and activities that enhanced my understanding of the diverse landscapes, organizations, and activities occurring in South Africa.
After the two-week course, I stayed an additional two weeks at the academy to make up the four-week course. During the four-week course I assisted with veterinary activities, wildlife capture and immobilization, the handling and containment of animals, anti-poaching training as well as information on veterinary pharmacology.
During this training, you get a further understanding of the veterinary role as well as pathology and stress related mortalities. I also got exposure to what the anti-poaching rangers do, as well as weapon handling. This is important to know just in case you were to be in contact with a poacher to make the weapon safe, but also if you need to defend yourself. You can see in these pictures that we learned about firing different types of guns, as well as what they do when you get shot.
During the four-week course, we went on a road trip around South Africa to see the different landscapes within the rural and urban areas to understand different conservation principles. We learned about different protected area systems, socio-economic issues, as well as human-wildlife conflict.
I then stayed an additional two months interning at the local SPCA. Here is where I learned more about human and wildlife conflict. Rehabilitated animals, as well as conducted investigations on two live cases. In total, I conducted 20 post-mortems on different animals and was the lead investigator on a seal skinning incident and a shark finning incident. I even created a basic post-mortem guide to help future academy students.
