Nature's Secret Service

Are the gray wolves in the Great Lakes area any less persecuted than the wolves in western states? Nope. Join Ed in a conversation with Special Agent Steve Stoinski and hear about his investigation of a Wisconsin landowner who took it upon himself to rid his area of wild wolves protected by the Endangered Species Act. Steve also gives us some insight into what happened to the...

Can you kill a wolf in self-defense? One of the very few exceptions to the prohibition against killing endangered or threatened species is self-defense - if you have to kill the animal to save yourself or others. Although wolves have a ferocious reputation in folklore, there are almost no documented cases of wolves attacking human beings. Even when human biologists raid a wol...

Where do agents turn when they have a case like last week's poison meatball investigation? Well, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Clark Bavin National Forensic Laboratory in Ashland, Oregon, was the first crime lab established in the United States that was totally dedicated to assisting with wildlife crime investigations. A fully accredited crime lab, the FWS Lab provides as...

Ed Newcomer tells the incredible story of Special Agent Scott Bragonier's investigation of a expansive crime scene in the wilds of Idaho. What happened at the crime scene? It appears to Agent Bragonier as if someone has tried to poison wild wolves that are protected by the US Endangered Species Act. Join Ed and Sheryl McCollum, the host of the Zone-7 podcast, as they talk abo...

If you illegally kill an endangered wolf that naturally migrated into the United States but want to keep the pelt, how do you launder it so it appears to be 'legal?' Tune in to this week's episode with former USFWS special agent Corky Roberts to hear about his investigation of a Washington resident who did just that.