ABSTRACT
In the preceding chapters of this book and in the succeeding appendices, the rapidly evolving eld of wildlife forensics is explored. e subject has been given a broader remit than that in most other books and publications, where the emphasis has usually been on ‘combating wildlife crime’. In our text, while concentrating on injuries and other assaults inicted by humans on wild animals, we have also made reference to the investigation of incidents when the situation is reversed – that is, when wildlife, vertebrate or invertebrate, damages people or their property. e techniques used in the two types of investigation are essentially the same: usually only the circumstances and the legal implications are dierent. We also have included the welfare of animals in this book, on the grounds that the iniction of the pain and suering on animals is sometimes inextricably part of wildlife crime.
